Knowing That We’re Forgiven

I think I’ve always read this sentence as ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’    But this morning I read it as, ‘Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven.’

Does it matter? Well, when we read like this, we understand that this man is really struggling with whether or not he can put his past offences behind him. His burden – and it’s a burden many, many, people suffer from – is that we are not able to forgive ourselves for what we have done.

Something happens. We can upset someone by something we say or do. The bitter words we say somehow trigger a huge reaction in the other person and we realise that we have hit a very sore spot that has huge consequences we never imagined. Or perhaps we do indeed do something that we know very well is hurtful and unkind – and can’t be undone.

Our offence can be tiny. Or it may be deliberate and massive; unkind, un-called for.

Putting things right with someone we’ve hurt may not be possible. However much we apologise, however genuine we are, our actions may cause a huge rift between us and the one we’ve hurt – and the one we have hurt may choose never to forgive us.

So, what can I do about it? I’m stuck here, feeling terrible about something I have said or done – and I have broken a relationship, caused damage and am suffering huge consequences for myself. Maybe I can indeed forgive the person whom I have hurt. But sometimes the one person I can’t forgive is – myself!  I can go into self-rejection; unable to forgive myself. And I can’t ever really know God’s forgiveness if I won’t forgive myself.

Did you know that self-rejection can actually have physical consequences? I wonder whether this man’s physical paralysis may have had its root in his own inability to forgive himself. Forgiveness of others and of ourselves can be a huge key to a person receiving physical healing – as we still find so often in the healing ministry.