Too many Christians spend too much time trying to placate a God who will not be satisfied with anything they do, simply because He dislikes them so much.
As Christians, if we spent as much time reflecting upon grace as we do obsessing about sin, we might gain a deeper understanding of God. Grace, original oil painting by Steve Henderson, licensed prints at Framed Canvas Art and Amazon.com.
Despite this being an inaccurate understanding of the intimate relationship between a loving, gracious, merciful Father and His vulnerable children, it is the misconception under which a large number of believers labor. The result is that we feel unsettled, unloved, insecure in a relationship that is meant to bring us joy and peace.
This is so sad, because this is so far from where God wants us to be. The most important lesson we can learn from reading the Bible has nothing to do with memorizing verses, or parsing sentences, but rather, it’s coming to grips with the concept that God LOVES us.
Unconditionally.
And because of this unconditional love, He has not only forgiven us without our being worthy at all of being forgiven, but He continues to do so, even after we have laid our lives at our feet and are learning from Him.
One of the many things we learn about, throughout our lives, from our Master, Father, Lord, King, and God, is how to forgive. Like all things to be learned, forgiveness is something we don’t readily grasp, but pick up, bit by bit, as we grow and mature.
If you have difficulty with forgiving someone (and who doesn’t?) please consider reading the rest of the story at my Commonsense Christianity blog at BeliefNet, Forgiveness Is a Promise, Not a Contractual Agreement.
All too often, we approach our relationship with God the way we approach the English language, as if it were no more than a set of rules to be memorized. Grammar Despair, a short, simple book addressing some of writing’s most common problems, at Amazon.com
