On Giving Thanks – Forgiveness

Greetings Dear Reader,

We will get around to my gratitude for divine forgiveness.  I first want to dwell on my gratitude for the forgiveness of others.  I have done some terrible wrongs to people both intentional and unintentional.  Most of them have forgiven me.

I first value forgiveness for the sake of those who are doing the forgiving.  Failing to forgive carries such a heavy burden.  It gives place to anger and bitterness.  Were we not able to forgive then the wake of broken relationships would be unbearable for us all.  For those who fail to forgive it often is.

I am thankful that if we choose to we are able to forgive others.  On that point, saying that we are unable to forgive is a lie.  We always have a choice.  Choosing not to forgive is dangerous and damaging to us.  Failure to forgive leads to divorce, hatred, and wars. There are other causes but this is at the core of it.

The other aspect of human forgiveness is that of being forgiven.  It gives us a glimpse of the divine.  We act in a divine way when we forgive.  We exercise power over another individual with grace and mercy.  We act in the mode of divine love. 

When we are forgiven we get new ground on which to stand.  We have an opportunity to do better than we did.  We can better the relationships around us.  It becomes possible to follow Christ more closely.

I know that I am also deeply thankful for God’s forgiveness.  He renews it daily because he sees me as his own.  The process of redemption requires that God both forgive and forget my sin.  In God’s eyes I am already perfected and he is just waiting for me to catch up with his vision of me.  I do that by following Christ.

A friend of mine in Tennessee shared with me a song that reflects how we are to see ourselves.  When guilt or regret try to assail me I need to remember that I am both in the process and complete.  I am forgiven for all that I have done and will do.   I am redeemed.  I am truly thankful for this.  It is the wellspring of my hope.

Redeemed – Big Daddy Weave

Seems like all I could see was the struggle

Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past

Bound up in shackles of all my failures

Wondering how long is this gonna last

Then You look at this prisoner and say to me "son

Stop fighting a fight it's already been won"

I am redeemed, You set me free

So I'll shake off these heavy chains

Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be

I am redeemed, I'm redeemed

All my life I have been called unworthy

Named by the voice of my shame and regret

But when I hear You whisper, "Child lift up your head"

I remember, oh God, You're not done with me yet

I am redeemed, You set me free

So I'll shake off these heavy chains

Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be

Because I don't have to be the old man inside of me

'Cause his day is long dead and gone

Because I've got a new name, a new life, I'm not the same

And a hope that will carry me home

I am redeemed, You set me free

So I'll shake off these heavy chains

Wipe away every stain, 'cause I'm not who I used to be

I am redeemed, You set me free

So I'll shake off these heavy chains

Wipe away every stain, yeah, I'm not who I used to be

Oh, God, I'm not who I used to be

Jesus, I'm not who I used to be

'Cause I am redeemed

Thank God, redeemed

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)