The meaning of the cross of the forgiveness we can now experience because of Jesus dying for us.
Forgiveness, to ask for or to forgive someone of their actions, something that can be very hard for us to do and also depending on what the person did to us. We all want forgiveness in our lives when it comes to anything that we have done, we want our past to not exist anymore and to not inhibit us from living life. The world on the other hand wants you to be unforgiving, to block out that person, to make them feel unloved and do what you can to hurt them. This isn’t the way of life and love that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior showed and lived in his life. Jesus forgave those who hurt him, God forgives us by sending his one and only son whom he dearly loved in order to forgive us. Since we are forgiven for what we have done, we are called to a life of forgiveness as well, forgiving the past others have with us. Jesus died so then we could be reconciled with our Lord, Savior, first love, and creator when we pass from earth and join him in Heaven.
One hard thing that we all have is we can easily forgive others, yet for some reason it can be very difficult to forgive ourselves after seeing the sins we have committed against God. Forgiving others can be easy because we are called to forgive them and yet we know the pain that unforgiveness has, so we let go and let them be free of what we feel. Allowing ourselves this same delicacy can be hard and difficult, and it can be deeply rooted down with trauma or trying to repay what we owe God. God’s hand of judgement is not against us, yet it feels like its pressing in on us, and the only real way to get rid of that feeling to be 100% and completely transparent with a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to feel forgiveness for ourselves. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior died so then we can have this fresh start, blank slate, yet we can experience it if we allow ourselves to, there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.
Forgiving ourselves and loving ourselves is the first step to being able to forgive and love others the way Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior calls us to love and forgive others. It’s from the overflow of God loving and forgiving us that we then love and forgive others and so on and so on. This starts with the transparency I was talking about; we must bring to attention the sins we have committed no matter how bad or big, God will forgive them all and help us to become better people. We have this because of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior dying on that cross and his arms acting like a bridge in order to close the gap between us and God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness. Jesus was ‘God forsaken’ in order to help us and our souls for our sake in order to experience the great things he has for us in this life and the life to come.
The only proper response to this is worship, worship through saying thank you to when he does something big or small. Worship through music, art, and so forth in order to show him that you love, and most importantly through obedience and self-sacrifice. We are told NUMEROUS times throughout the old and New Testament that God desires obedience more than sacrifice of anything. So, obey, listen and pray about something if you are confused, most importantly, do what he says for you to do. Yes, take what spirits you hear to prayer and make sure it aligns with his will, yet still obey what our Father in Heaven says, and remind yourself that our salvation is freely given, not earned. Let God show you what he has for you and allow yourself this forgiveness and mercy to be brought upon yourself as it is freely given to us.
Forgiveness and love can be hard for the world to accomplish, yet we are called separately from this world in order to love and forgive each other. Yes, we still have arguments, fights, issues, and many things, in all for give each other and forgive yourself of what you have done. Remember this comes as Jesus died for us to be forgiven bridging that gap and being our Lord and Savior, it is given and not earned. No one can boast about something given to them since they didn’t earn it, so give forgiveness and love as it was freely given to you. May God forgive you and help you to forgive others in this life as you move on from your past mistakes, AMEN!!!!