My dear friend, never limit God’s forgiveness to you. There is no limit to his forgiveness and longsuffering. Jesus told his disciples, “If he [your brother] sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him” (Luke 17:4, NKJV).
Can you believe such a thing? Seven times a day this person willfully sins before my very eyes then says, “I’m sorry,” and I am to forgive him continuously. Jesus did not say, “Forgive your brother once or twice, then tell him to go and sin no more. Tell him that if he ever does it again he will be cut off. Tell him he is an habitual sinner.” No. Jesus called for unlimited, no-strings-attached forgiveness. How much more will our heavenly Father forgive his children who come in repentance to him! Don’t stop to reason it out, and don’t ask how or why he forgives so freely. Simply accept it.
It is God’s nature to forgive. David said, “For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you” (Psalm 86:5). God is waiting right now to flood your being with the joy of forgiveness. You need to open up all the windows of your soul and allow his Spirit to flood you with forgiveness.
John, speaking as a Christian, wrote, “He himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). According to John, the goal of every Christian is to “sin not.” That means the Christian is not bent toward sin but instead leans toward God.
What happens, though, when that God-leaning child sins? Scripture assures us, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1), and “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Lay down your guilt, my friend. You don’t need to carry that load another minute. If you ask, if you repent, you are forgiven. God forgives you over and over again, and this knowledge should unlock a graciousness in our own hearts towards our brothers in Christ. As forgiven saints, we are called to forgive over and over again.