Thursday, December 17th Jessica Hayes

Wright's Chapel United Methodist Church   -  

Hebrews 10:10-18
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
[a]
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
[b]
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
 
Hebrews 10 tells us that God accepted Jesus to be the one and only sacrifice for all men and for the forgiveness of sin.    To me a very powerful part of this passage is that not only does God forgive our sins, but he also forgets them.  “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.  Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” If we offer our forgiveness to others as God does, we should forget their wrong doing.  I know that is easier said than done.  As I read through this passage, I found myself thinking about times I held a grudge against someone.   Maybe I did not think their apology was sincere or that I was scared of the issue reoccurring.  But this passage helped me to remember there should be no strings attached to forgiveness.  I have heard the phrase “there is no weakness in forgiveness” before.  I feel it is very relevant to God’s forgiveness of sin.  For when you truly forgive someone, you are the stronger person. There is no grudge or projection of guilt.   You are stepping past any wrong doings and moving forward.