More thoughts on “Forgive as you have been forgiven.” Colossians 3:12

Concerning the poor decisions I made that summer. The bottom line here is, "what do I do with my failures?”

For someone with my natural, old nature’s drive for success and fulfillment, these failures produced anger: towards myself, towards those who may point out my failures, and ultimately towards God who has “allowed me to be imperfect.” And then I am easily angry towards others who irritate me in some way.

None of this anger is righteous, but God used it as a “prod” to help me take up and put on the second piece of His armor of Eph. 6:10-18, the breast plate of righteousness. It is His righteousness that counts, not my being perfect, and He offers me His righteousness on a daily basis. I need to lay down my idol--my desire for the perfection, seeking to look good, even to myself--and instead affirm that only God does everything right.

God has, through Christ’s sacrifice, forgiven me for my sins and failures, so I need to agree and forgive myself on the basis of Christ’s work. Failure to appropriate this forgiveness is a greater failure than any of the other lacks I’ve mentioned!

Not everyone struggles with forgiving themselves, but many of us do so without realizing it. To accept God’s forgiveness allows us to forgive ourselves on the basis of His work, and then we are freed to forgive others.

Our Lord knows what He is doing in our lives, often leading us by enlightenment through our failures. The ways of God are both inscrutably complex and marvelously simple. Are we following?