Forgiveness Through God’s Love
I was deeply hurt by someone a while ago. You know the type of hurt that travels to your bone marrow and leaves you feeling as though your heart weighs a thousand pounds.
Immediately afterward, I followed the ‘right’ steps. I prayed and handed it to God. However, the hurt didn’t go away. Instead, it lingered until unforgiveness crept into my heart. I tried hard to shake it off and move on but was tormented with negative thoughts. My spirit wanted to forgive, but my flesh wanted lightning to flash from heaven and strike this person.
Finally, God captured my attention with His unconditional love for me through a song on my playlist. A segment of the lyrics of the song ‘Perfect Love‘ by Jesus Culture goes like this:
“Perfect love, perfect love, it’s perfect love.
Breaks down walls, casts out fear.
It’s perfect love. Unconditional, freely given.
Yeah, perfect love.
His name is Jesus, His name is Jesus!”
I was reminded that God’s love for me is perfect. God loves me deeply, unconditionally, and personally. No amount of mistreatment or hurt by anyone can diminish His love (Romans 8:38-39).
As I meditated on His love for me, my heart healed, and my hurts melted away. With a healed heart, I was able to approach my offender with the overflow of God’s love within me and see him/her through the lens of God’s love. Then, I rejoiced in the truth and reality that God’s love does cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).
What Does the Bible Teach on Forgiveness and Love?
No one is born holy and righteous. We all come into this world as sinners (Romans 3:23). The Scriptures make it clear that “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Compared with the glory of God, our human attempts at holiness are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). God is holy and perfect (1 Samuel 2:2). Therefore, our sinful nature separated us from Him and prevented us from relating with Him (Isaiah 59:2).
But because of His great love for us, God sent His Son into this world to redeem us from our sins and reconcile us to an intimate love relationship with Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5). He didn’t wait for us to clean our act up. Instead, he offered Jesus while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). Jesus is the picture of perfect love because he gave himself for us as a sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).
In addition, because of His love for us, God gave us total and complete forgiveness of our sins in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14). This forgiveness is based fully on His grace, not our ability to earn it (Ephesians 2:8). It is freely available to all who repent of their sins and receive it by faith (Acts 2:38, 20:21).
His forgiveness does not end at the point of salvation. If we sin afterward, Jesus serves as our advocate before God, and his sacrifice still speaks for us (1 John 2:1-2). If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
As if the riches of His love and grace towards us weren’t enough, He made us new, took away our old sin nature, and put His Spirit within us (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are the temples of the Living God, and the Holy Spirit lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). Because we have His Spirit in us, we have His power to extend the same love and forgiveness He extended to us to others (Galatians 5:22).
God is love, and He has poured His love into our hearts through His Spirit (Romans 5:5). As we spend time in His presence and meditate on Scriptures concerning His love for us, we are empowered through His Spirit who dwells within us to walk in His love and forgive others just as He forgave us.
10 Bible Verses on Forgiveness and Love
God’s Love and Forgiveness
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10
“…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:4-5
“he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;” Psalms 103:10-11
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:25
Our Response to God’s Love and Forgiveness
“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9 NLT
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14
Practical Steps to Forgiveness
Pray for your adversaries (Mark 11:25).
Bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14).
Meditate on God’s Word, building your spirit up with His love and forgiveness. The stronger your spirit is with regards to accepting God’s love and forgiveness for you, the easier it will be to forgive others. Live daily with the consciousness that Jesus Christ himself lives in you (Colossians 1:27).
Love is the key that unlocks forgiveness, and God has poured His love into your heart (Romans 5:5). The choice is now yours to tap into His love and refresh others with it.
You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37), and you can walk in forgiveness.
Receive God’s Word (James 1:21). Believe you can do it, then obey and exercise your faith by offering forgiveness in love to others.
Conclusion
I thank God for His love for me. He loves me even in my imperfection as He leads me to His perfection. I thank Him for forgiving my sins, making me His child, giving me His Spirit and the grace to extend the same forgiveness to others.
LORD, You are a good God, and I love You!
Scriptures to meditate on:
Related Posts:
Except indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New International Version (NIV).
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© 2019. Chizobam Idahosa @Beautiful in Jesus.
Happy New Year to you Chizobam. I loved these lines best “He loves me even in my imperfection as He leads me to His perfection”. Thanks for being vulnerable.
Hi Grace,
Happy New Year to you!
Oh yes! He loves us unconditionally. That’s the definition of grace. (Pun intended.)
Great job, great New Year’s message! Glad to receive this. Hugs, D~
Thanks Donna,
By His grace!
Thank you Lord for loving me in my imperfection as you lead me to perfection…. Hallelujah.
Thanks Chizobam for this write up. The good Lord is working on me
Amen!
He continues to work on all of us (without exception) as He molds us into into the image of Christ.
This writing on God’s love in a trying situation is refreshing.
Thank you Ulo.
God’s love and His Word are ALWAYS refreshing!!
“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”, Jesus in Matthew Chapter 6 Verse 15.