Forgiveness – a powerful word; a powerful gift from God!  Forgiveness whether we give it, receive it, request it or accept it.

Do you have the courage to ask for forgiveness from others & from God?  Do you have the courage to offer forgiveness to those who ask for it?  Part of spiritual growth occurs when we realize we have sinned & ask for (beg for) forgiveness!

Sometimes we are too proud to admit we need God’s forgiveness & God’s grace.  This psalm reminds to ask God for forgiveness.  ”Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.”  We should (each one of us) take some time to examine our conscience (our attitudes & our actions) in light of Jesus’ message to “Forgive.”

John R. Aurelio, in his book Colors, gives us a beautiful portrayal of this side of God, in the story, “The Flip Side of Love.”  On the sixth day, God created Father Adam and Mother Eve.  On the seventh day, as God was resting, they asked Him if He would give them something special to commemorate their birthday.  So God reached into His treasure chest and took out a sacred coin. Written on it was the word “LOVE”. On the eighth day, Father Adam and Mother Eve sinned.  As they left the Garden of Eden, they asked God for an assurance that He would not abandon them.

“You have the coin,” He told them.  “But, the coin says LOVE,” they answered. “We have lost love. How ever will we find it again? “Turn it over,” God said.  On the other side of the coin was written the word “FORGIVENESS.”   Aurelio goes on to say that there is no love without forgiveness and no forgiveness without love.

They are the two sides of the same coin. 

 

The poet John Donne wrote, “God never says, you should have come yesterday; he never says, you must come again tomorrow, but today if you will hear his voice, today he will hear you… All occasions invite his mercies, and all time are his seasons.”

May God Be Praised!