Fresh Start part 3
I can't think of anything more liberating that forgiveness. True forgiveness. Not, "I'll forgive, but I'll never forget." Not, "Just as if I'd never sinned." But a total and complete fresh start. As Hebrews 10:2 puts it, "Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?" The cross--where we were forgiven, and cleansed--gave us that fresh start. It even got rid of our sin CONSCIOUSNESS. And that's the important part. (Even though it seems like all the church world is conscious of is sin. True relationship is a righteousness hunt, not a sin hunt.) When we were given that fresh start, we could leave the rest behind. Leave our PAST behind. Learn from it, sure, so we don't keep making the same mistakes over and over, but don't let it define us. Don't let it rob us of hope for a happy ending. Look at Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." And this takes me back to the idea of, "We might not see the whole blueprint, but we trust our heavenly Father and His plan." I think a lot of times we give up right when we're on the verge of something great. Because we think, "If it hasn't happened yet it's not going to." But that's why I always say, "If you want something different, do something different. Unless you're building something. In which case, stay the course." They say Rome wasn't built in a day, right? So why--in this microwave economy of instant gratification--do we think everything should be right here and right now? God started something in you. And HE will finish it. (In a sense He finished it 2,000 years ago on the cross because we ARE complete in Him, but in another sense He is continually finishing it as He reveals Himself to you, and in you, and through you, and as you.) Remember, it's the power of God working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. The desire comes from Him. And the power to manifest that desire comes from Him. It's all Him. Which means it's all love. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." And here's the coolest part: When we delight ourselves in Him we find that HE is the desire of our heart. LOVE is the desire of our heart. And we can only get it from the source. Commit your ways to Him and you'll see them come to fruition. Delight yourself in Him and you'll experience the desire (again, love) of your heart. But that's a hard thing to do if you're constantly trying to pay for past mistakes. Or if you think you're doomed so you've given up. If you define yourself by anything other than Jesus. You know... God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. That's what forgiveness equips and empowers us to do. It takes away any sense of separation between us and our loving heavenly Father. So that we can receive and release His love. Experience His love. And in that way, experience that fresh start. Walking in newness of life. Walking in LOVE!