Saying I’m sorry isn’t always acceptable to the recipient. The receiver has the responsibility to accept or reject the words, “I’m sorry.” To accept brings forgiveness. Hopefully, the ill feelings will disappear. However, forgiveness doesn’t always disappear from one’s memory. That apology doesn’t always erase the hurt feelings. Sometimes the pain lasts for years, depending on the depth of the scars.
Forgiveness has a healing effect, and it’s vital to our personal lives. Without forgiveness, bitterness can creep in, poisoning a person’s mind and relationships, and even damaging one’s mindset forever.
On the spiritual side, forgiveness is liberating. When an individual comes to the Lord and experiences redemption, he’s free! The weight of his guilt is gone—removed and covered by the blood of Jesus. The amazing part of the Lord’s forgiveness is the erasure and eradication of it from His memory. That kind of forgiveness is beyond our human understanding because we still have a memory and we don’t have an erase button. But Jesus has the power to forgive, forget, and move on. We don’t have that ability. We can forgive, forget most of the time, and move on sometimes, but ever so slowly. The grace of our Savior encourages every believer to forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13).
Our sins are gone, forgotten, and never to be remembered by the Lord. With that thought and promise of forgiveness, we too can move on with our lives and serve the Lord as long as we have breath.
