Topic > Christian Beliefs > Salvation > Forgiveness >
Mistakes Were Made
“Mistakes were made,” said the CEO as he discussed the illegal activity his company had been involved in. He looked regretful, yet he kept blame at arm’s length and couldn’t admit he had personally done anything wrong.
Some “mistakes” are just mistakes: driving in the wrong direction, forgetting to set a timer and burning dinner, miscalculating your checkbook balance. But then there are the deliberate deeds that go far beyond—God calls those sin. When God questioned Adam and Eve about why they had disobeyed Him, they quickly tried to shift the blame to another (Gen. 3:8–13). Aaron took no personal responsibility…
Perfect Grace
Jesus’s teaching about absolute ideals and absolute grace seem contradictory.
Jesus never lowered God’s perfect ideal. In His response to the rich young ruler, He said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). He told an expert in the law who inquired as to the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (22:37). No one has completely fulfilled those commands.
Yet the same Jesus tenderly offered absolute grace. He forgave an adulteress, a thief on the cross, a disciple who had denied ever knowing…
Why I Kept Failing to Truly Forgive
Forgiveness always felt like a mind game. When people hurt me, I would tell them that I forgave them. But the truth was I was rarely able to move on from painful experiences.
Little Lies and Kittens
Mom noticed four-year-old Elias as he scurried away from the newborn kittens. She had told him not to touch them. “Did you touch the kitties, Elias?” she asked.
“No!” he said earnestly. So Mom had another question: “Were they soft?”
“Yes,” he volunteered, “and the black one mewed.”
With a toddler, we smile at such duplicity. But Elias’s disobedience underscores our human condition. No one has to teach a four-year-old to lie. “For I was born a sinner,” wrote David in his classic confession, “yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5 nlt). The apostle Paul said: “When Adam sinned, sin…
5 Reasons You Should Repent – Again and Again
As believers, we know that Jesus calls people who have yet to believe in Him (Matthew 4:17) and Christians to repent when they have fallen away from Him (Revelation 2:5; 2:16; 2:21; 3:3; 3:19).
Are you brave enough to forgive?
We can’t give what we don’t have, right? Well, today on Discover the Word, we along with our guest Nicole Unice discuss John chapter 20 and how those who’ve received forgiveness should logically be best able to give forgiveness. But that’s not always how we work. How being forgiven can make us “Brave Enough” to […]
Are you brave enough to move into God’s grace?
How do you respond when you “blow it”? Do you have a tough time not punishing yourself and shaming yourself into a bad place? Today on Discover the Word, the group along with our guest, author Nicole Unice encourage us to be “Brave Enough” to love grace, and move from shame and condemnation to that […]
5 Facts that Helped Me Choose Forgiveness
We all react differently when people hurt us. Some of us lash back, some of us brood quietly, and some turn to other sources of comfort for solace. Sometimes, we can become bitter after being hurt, and it eventually destroys our relationships.
Wisdom is the fruit of repentance
Hiding our sin leads to inner turmoil, but wisdom is the fruit of repentance. Today on Discover the Word, we will talk about the profound wisdom David learned when he finally came clean about his hidden sins. Find out why we can have joy when we are corrected and taught by God! Listen today to Discover […]
We Are Not the Sum of Our Bad Choices
You might have encountered them on the streets. The lonely, the homeless, and the addicted. They started off just like the rest of us, but somewhere along the line, one wrong choice after another led them on a downward spiral.
Trading guilt and shame for rescue and relief
Have you ever practiced “self-protection,” where you hide your failures and try to control how people perceive you? Today on Discover the Word, the group talks about how King David’s attempt to hide his sins put him in a precarious place with God. That is, until he confessed and was able to trade his songs […]
David’s “year of hiding and denial”
“I’ll lose control, I’ll lose credibility, I’ll lose face.” That’s what we often fear will happen if we “come clean” about our sins. But we lose a whole lot more when we’re too stubborn to “fess up,” and continue to try and hide things—from God and from others. Today on Discover the Word, we’ll discuss […]
Forgiveness and correction go hand in hand
Most of us wince a little when someone corrects us. It’s awkward, and sometimes painful. But we love it when someone extends forgiveness! Today on Discover the Word, we will take a look at Psalm 32. It’s a poem that shows how forgiveness and correction go hand in hand . . . and both are a […]
From the Heart
In many cultures, loud weeping, wailing, and the tearing of clothing are accepted ways of lamenting personal sorrow or a great national calamity. For the people of Old Testament Israel, similar outward actions expressed deep mourning and repentance for turning away from the Lord.
An outward demonstration of repentance can be a powerful process when it comes from our heart. But without a sincere inward response to God, we may simply be going through the motions, even in our communities of faith.
After a plague of locusts devastated the land of Judah, God, through the prophet Joel, called the people…
The joy of God’s correction
Nobody likes being corrected. The reality is, most people would choose just about anything over being disciplined! But today on Discover the Word, the group begins a study in Psalm 32—where King David talks about the joy of God’s correction. Really? The joy of correction? Is this an oxymoron? Find out today on Discover the […]
