The Gift Of Forgiveness

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! . . . I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Psalm 32:1, 5

Outside it was freezing cold, but inside the small prison chapel, where eighty-five inmates and nine volunteers crowded in, it was warm and cozy. I watched as the women recited Psalm 32 together and then individually got up to say the verses from memory.

Sharon was first and said the first lines of the psalm perfectly. However, when she got to verse five, she choked up and had to wait a moment to collect herself before she continued: “When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable.” Tears ran down her cheeks as she finished the psalm and then shared that she would likely be dead if she hadn’t been arrested on drug charges and put in prison. There she was introduced to Jesus Christ and surrendered her life to him.

Sharon had struggled with a profound sense of guilt for the mistakes she’d made, the devastation in her children’s lives, and the extra burdens her elderly mother carried having three brokenhearted kids to raise. “But I finally stopped trying to hide my sins, deny them, or numb myself with more drugs,” Sharon told us. She had confessed all her sins and years of rebellion to the Lord. And the reality of God’s mercy was incredible to her. “And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

Her face glowed as she finished her testimony. Hope was alive in her heart and eyes. Though she still had several years to serve on her prison term, she was experiencing the freedom and joy that only Christ’s forgiveness can bring.

Father, you are the giver of every good gift, especially the gift of forgiveness through the cross of your Son, Jesus. May we not take for granted your enormous mercy.

To the frightened, God is friendly; to the poor in spirit, he is forgiving; to the ignorant, considerate; to the weak, gentle.

A. W. Tozer(1897–1963), American preacher and author