Forgiveness Is Yours; Accept It

“I’ll never be a non-stumbler. I’ll be a forgiven stumbler, but never a non-stumbler.”
∼TobyMac

Too often I wring my hands in discouragement as once again, despite all my good intentions, I slip into self-pleasing behavior instead of God-pleasing.

And in that place, I tend to carry around guilt and condemnation, asking scathing questions:

“As a Christian who loves the Lord, shouldn’t I be past this?”

“What is wrong with me?”

“How can God love me when I continue to mess up?”

Maybe you find yourself asking the same questions. 

You and I are in good company in the struggles with our flesh. 

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote passionately about his conflict with his sin nature. 

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Romans 7:15, 18b-19

Does this sound like your own battle? 

Forgiveness, a Gift

In her book Embrace Grace, Author and speaker Liz Curtis Higgs offers us comfort based on God’s truth. She reminds us that condemnation has been removed for all who are in Christ, not as a result of any good thing we’ve done, but because of the best thing Jesus Christ did for us.

I love how she puts it:

“With God, it’s always Christmas.
And always Easter.
The gift of his Son’s birth.
The gift of his Son’s blood.”

Forgiveness, a gift, for you and me, for all who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior … even when we mess up.

'With God, it’s always Christmas. And always Easter. The gift of his Son’s birth. The gift of his Son’s blood.' —Liz Curtis Higgs. Forgiveness, a gift for you and me, for all who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior…even when we mess up. Click To Tweet

We don’t have to wait until we have it altogether. We don’t have to get our act together first. God invites us to “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 

Messy.

Weary. 

Hesitant.

Sinner. 

but

Forgiven!

What a glorious act! The Master of all, the Creator of the universe Himself, forgiving me and you. Dirty and stained we arrive, white as snow we will be.  

No, we shouldn’t be happy when we stumble, but we should be ecstatic that in our stumbling, we are forgiven.  

God promises; so go ahead, believe Him, accept His forgiveness. It’s yours; a gift that cost the Giver much. 

We all are stumblers, but in Christ, we all are forgiven stumblers. Click To Tweet

We all are stumblers, but in Christ, we all are forgiven stumblers. In that state, join me in echoing Paul’s words of freedom: 

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:25

Reflections: Have you found it difficult to accept God’s forgiveness? How would you define a “forgiven stumbler”? 

I’m excited to continue recording blessings this year. Since beginning over 3 years ago, I’ve counted more than 3,500 gifts in Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare! What a blessing! So here we go in 2015: #3702–3722, read my entire list by clicking here.