In visiting my brother and his wife on the East shore of Maryland one year, I went to a small Methodist church on the Sunday after Christmas. The congregation had a custom of telling “Jesus stories” before the service began. A microphone was passed around to those who raised their hand and they told of an incident that had occurred the previous week.

Attendance was low on that Sunday, but two or three “Jesus stories” were offered. One woman apologized because she wasn’t sure that her story “qualified”, but it had “seemed important” to her: “I was driving Greg (her son) home from the bus station for Christmas break when he just said to me, ‘ You know, Mom, there are some sins that God can’t forgive.’ I slowed down the car and thought hard. I said, ‘ Greg, I don’t know what this is about; I don’t know what has happened, but I do know that there is no sin in the world, large or small, that God won’t forgive.’ Then I drove on home. That’s all, but it seemed important to me.” She handed the microphone to the next Jesus story teller.

The woman’s story seemed important to me, too; I felt as if I had received a sermon before the service began: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them, and in whose spirit is no deceit. . . Then I acknowledged my sin to you, God, and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘ I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1,2,5)

If there were a single recurrent theme in the Bible, it would be this, the turning away of sin from our spirits by the only One who could ever do such a thing, and who then charges us to follow His example: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times.’” (Matthew 15;21)

Many people talk of forgiving ourselves, but the woman and her son thought only of God’s forgiveness. I believe that self-forgiveness is a myth that enables us to avoid acknowledging God’s claim upon our lives, for once we have experienced His forgiveness, we are compelled to offer the same to others who may have sinned against us. Why? Because He is our Father, and invests forgiven life into us, and we experience the need to share it. The freedom it affords to know you are forgiven cannot be contained in one soul. It will always seem too important.

Love in Him,

Prue