A Forgiveness Letter From Jesus

My Dear One,

You die every time you forgive. 

Again and again and again. 

My life in exchange for yours,

Your pride and rights traded for praying blessings on the wounder. 

It hurts for a reason. 

Don’t balk at the hurt of forgiveness,

Choose it. 

You will never die alone. 

I’m beside you, dying through you,

For you, for them. 

Let it hurt. 

Be a masochist for grace. 

Say to those who have wounded you, stolen life, unrepentant;

Say,

“Peace.” 

“There is peace between us.  You are not in debt of any kind.” 

Name the hurt; go as deep as you can. 

Be not afraid to dig or expose. 

Your wounds need not cower in shame or dark. 

Let them out. 

I can pay for that hurt.

“What about this one, Abba?” you say to Me. 

“This one nearly destroyed me.”

“It will not destroy Me, Dear One.  I can bear that one.  That very wound is My specialty.  I will pay for it.  Give it to Me.”

You give your wounds back to the ones who hurt you,

Hoping and waiting for them to pay. 

It’s like asking a child to fix the window they broke. 

I will pay;

Not because sin is okay, but because My love is stronger than sin.

Heaven is a debt-free kind of place. 

Hurt with Me on earth and be released into joy when all becomes new.  

Be careful not to revel in your pain or make yourself a god. 

Just let forgiveness hurt if it must. 

This is a brand of forgiveness you’ve yet to embrace. 

It will become more of who you are.

You may one day take joy at the prospect of forgiving a harsh wound.  

In your pain, praise Me for My choice, for My pain.

Do you know this frees you from perfectionism? 

Go ahead – make a mistake. 

I will pay for it. 

You hurt others, and My grace is enough. 

I know you’re weak. 

You don’t need to prove anything to Me.

Wounder or wounded….I’ve got it all covered. 

I am the atoning sacrifice for sin, and not only yours, but also for the sins of the whole world.  (1 Jn 2:2)

If you confess your sins, I am faithful, I am just.  I will forgive you and purify you from all unrighteousness.  (1 Jn 1:9)

The reason I appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.  No one God created will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.  (1 Jn 3:8&9)

This is how God showed his love among you:  God sent Me, His one and only Son into the world that you might live through Me.  This is love:  not that you loved God, but that He loved you and sent Me as an atoning sacrifice for your sins.  (1 Jn 4:9&10)

Love,

Your Savior