A brief excerpt from my latest manuscript From Forgiven to Forgiveness

“Your sins are forgiven you.”

Such a simple a statement uttered by Jesus Christ many times throughout the New Testament. The key word is, of course, ‘forgiven.’ But what does this really mean? Forgiven of what and forgiven by whom? Are all my sins forgiven? Can it really be that all the bad stuff I’ve done is actually forgiven by God? Or is this simple statement an utterance of delusion, meant to mislead the hardened sinner or appease the angry mob? Is it a trick to keep the sinners sinning, thus heaping upon themselves a more brutal eternity? Or is it to appease masses wanting to cause harm but cease their threatening by being excused of their nefarious intent?

And, even if I do begin to comprehend God’s forgiveness of me, will I be able to in turn forgive myself? Will the tormenting self-accusations ever cease or will they continue tearing at the fringes of my consciousness like an ever-threatening migraine that never goes full-throttle but also never goes away? Will I be able to look myself in the eye each morning without deriding my very existence? Will I ever be free of the ‘what ifs’ and their accompanying yet equally defeating ‘if onlys?’

And if I am able to forgive myself, does that mean the guilt and shame, hanging over my soul like a cloud of smog, will finally dissipate? Will there be the clear skies of peace of mind and rest to my soul ahead if I can finally let go of the past and what I’ve done? Will I be able to finally lay aside the rage of what’s been done to me? Is that part of the “peace that passes understanding” that Paul is referring to in Philippians?

One can only hope. And pray.

But that’s not enough. What else does one do?

Jesus also commands us to forgive those who have wronged us. What?! If I can’t even forgive myself, how can I forgive you, or my neighbor, or my ex-wife?

--This is a very brief snapshot of what my next book is about. Basically, to really embrace forgiveness, we must first grasp the fact we are forgiven as we become a new creation in Christ.