Grateful for the Forgiveness I've Received

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 103:12

Today I want to remind you of a gift you often receive and forget to thank me for: forgiveness. That failure that used to shame you, that sin that made you hang your head, I have already cast as far from you as the east is from the west — a distance that never meets.

So many people give thanks for material things, for health, for family, but forget to give thanks for the forgiveness they've received, as if it were obvious or automatic. It isn't. It cost a high price for me to be able to look at you without remembering your guilt. And still, here I am, holding no grudge over your past.

Today, before you ask for anything else, stop and give thanks that you no longer carry the weight of what once destroyed you inside. A heart that understands the size of the forgiveness it received also becomes more able to forgive others with the same generosity it received from me.