By: Jim Umlauf
Guilt can be crippling. I’ve seen people drag it around for decades, even after embracing the forgiveness afforded by the cross. Maturing as a Christian adds its own complexity because the more deeply we understand who God is, the more thoroughly we realize the inclination and capabilities of our own hearts. The growing believer sees someone suffer the effects of a given sin and quickly notes that “it could easily be me.”
Remember that ours is a restorative God. And he is unchanging. When he promises to accomplish something, he cannot begin it without completing it. That’s good news for the aching soul. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ, not even (especially) you.
Take time to reflect on these words from Micah 7, after God had given a prosperous, teetering Judah severe warning (“...behold, the LORD is coming out of his place… her wound is incurable and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.”):
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger for ever,
because he delights in steadfast love
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from days of old.
