I went to a very small school and I was friends with everyone in my class. But just like most girls, I definitely had a few BEST friends! One of my best friends was Michell. Michell and I did everything together! We sat next to each other in class, ate lunch together, begged our families for sleepovers, and sometimes we even went along on each other’s family vacations!
I will never forget this one family vacation. We were thrilled to be together…until around the middle of our trip. We were at the pool and Michell and I had a huge fight—in front of everyone! It was so embarrassing! But even worse than that, after it was all over my mom separated us. I felt horrible. I missed my friend and I felt guilty for treating her so badly.
After a while, I just could not take it anymore. It just did not feel great to know that I had been so unkind to someone I loved. I knew what I had to do. I finally built up enough courage to find her and ask her to forgive me. After a long pause, she did. I was thrilled to have things back to normal with my best friend! I felt free and happy again because Michell chose to stop being upset because of how I treated her. She chose to love me instead.
You see, the word forgive really means that you change your bad feelings and attitude toward someone who upset you or mistreated you. Do you know that when you confess your sins, God always forgives you? The Bible says that “as far as the east is from the west, so far has [God] removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
The word transgressions means sin, and this verse simply means that when we sin or do something wrong, God will forgive us. When we go to Him and admit that we haven’t been perfect, He takes away all of our shame and feelings of guilt!
God’s forgiveness is forever. If you and your friend were standing on a line and you walked to the left and your friend walked to the right, you would continue to get further and further apart. When God forgives us, that is what happens with us and our sin. God forgets our sin and pushes it to the left and we continue to walk right, toward Him. If you ever get discouraged and think that God is upset at you, if you have asked Him for forgiveness, you can trust that this scripture is for you and you are forgiven!
Today, think about the many times that God has forgiven you. How does it make you feel?
Dear God, I am grateful that You do not let the things I do wrong push me away from You, but instead, You forgive me when I ask and bring me closer to You. Help me to believe that I am forgiven regardless of how bad a mistake I make. Thank You for forgiveness! In Jesus’s name, amen.