The Costly Beauty of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is releasing the weight we were never meant to carry, resting in the freedom of Jesus’ forgiveness.
Devotional Credit: In Christ by E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit: Unsplash
E. Stanley Jones leads us to one of the deepest waters of the Christian life: forgiveness. Paul’s command in Ephesians 4:32 is not simply to be kind or tenderhearted, but to forgive one another as God in Jesus forgave us. That last phrase is staggering, for it sets the highest standard imaginable. We are called to extend to others what God has already extended to us in His Son.
Jones reminds us that this forgiveness is not cheap. It cost God the cross. Forgiveness was purchased in a nail-pierced hand, not in casual dismissal of sin. To forgive as God forgives means entering into costly love, bearing pain ourselves rather than demanding repayment. This is the very heart of the gospel. We are not asked to manufacture it, but to express the forgiveness we have already received.
Yet Jones also emphasizes that God’s forgiveness is not only costly, it is complete. He forgives with no conditions, blotting our sins out of His remembrance. He sees us as if we had never sinned. In Him there is no partial forgiveness, no keeping score, no holding back. That kind of forgiveness heals relationships, restores fellowship, and reflects Jesus’ life in us.
When we live this way, we display the miracle of reconciliation. The world knows little of such forgiveness, but in Christ it is possible. If we refuse to forgive, Jones warns, we destroy the very bridge of grace that God built for us at the cross. But when we forgive freely, we live out one of the most beautiful realities on earth: the forgiveness of God expressed in human lives.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
My child, remember how I have forgiven you in My Son. I did not dismiss your sin lightly, but bore it in the cross. In Him, I removed your transgressions as far as the east is from the west. I remember them no more, for they are buried in the depths of My love.
You are called to forgive as I forgive. Not conditionally, not partially, not with hesitation, but with the fullness you have received. Forgiveness may cost you. It may mean bearing pain without repayment. Yet in yielding to Me, you discover that My life within you enables what you could never produce on your own.
As you forgive, you release both yourself and the other person into freedom. You are not bound by bitterness, for where My Spirit is, there is liberty. In forgiving, you live out the life of Jesus, who prayed for His enemies even as He bore their sins. This is not natural. It is My life expressed in you, the abiding life that bears witness to a love the world cannot explain.
Scripture References: Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:12-15, Psalm 103:12, Isaiah 43:25, Micah 7:19, Luke 23:34, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, John 13:34-35, Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20.
Real-Life Analogy
Imagine carrying a heavy backpack filled with rocks, each rock representing a hurt or offense someone has caused you. At first you manage the weight, but over time it wears you down. The moment you choose to forgive, it is as though you open the backpack and let the stones tumble out, one by one, until the burden is gone. Forgiveness does not deny that the rocks were real, but it refuses to keep carrying them.
In the same way, when someone wounds me, I can whisper, “Lord, I trust You to live Your life through me in this moment,” releasing the offense and yielding to His Spirit. In that act of trust, His forgiveness flows through me, freeing both myself and the other person.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, I thank You that in Jesus I am completely forgiven. My sins are buried in Your forgetfulness, and You see me clothed in His righteousness. I rejoice that the same forgiveness I have received is the forgiveness You express through me. I rest today in the truth that I am free from bitterness, free from keeping score, and free to forgive as You forgive.