Best Words To Hear

When Jesus saw their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Luke 5:20 

 

I was sitting in a Seminary Class with a lot on my mind, when the Professor said something that cut through my foggy mind. "You can only love to the extent you have experienced love.  You can only forgive to the extent you have experienced forgiveness."  Honestly, I didn't really hear the rest of the lecture because my mind grabbed those two statements and began pondering them.

 

How many times do we say "I love you" without ever meaning it?  How many times do we say "I forgive you" yet we refuse to?  If you have ever known the forgiveness of Christ, you know what an indescribable feeling that is.  Why would we not want to share that with each other?  If you have ever experienced the unconditional love of God, you know what joy it is to know that you are accepted and loved in spite of our past, present and future.  Why would we want to withhold that from each other.

 

 Today, I issue this challenge: Let us love and forgive each other as we are loved and forgiven by God through Christ.