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This past Sunday I was granted the privilege of presenting a sermon on God’s never-ending mercy reflected in His forgiveness and restoration promised and conferred through Jesus, our  Savior and Redeemer. I continue the theme of God’s forgiveness this week because I hear much  about the inability of many to forgive past sins and move forward into the fullness of a relationship with Christ.

To some degree we are all born sinful creatures, but we strive to learn from our missteps and choose to live a faithful life because of God’s love reflected in His unbounded mercy and grace. The journey as a Christian is not defined by our mistakes but discovered through our repentance, and through the acceptance of His forgiveness; this process constitutes our learning and spiritual growth. We do not forget our failings but learn by them and move closer to the Risen Lord. Rick Warren writes, “We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.”1

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:28-39.

This is a passage of hope and promise. A promise that despite our failings and sins we can all be forgiven and go back to a loving relationship with our Lord Jesus. We all know people who don’t understand God’s boundless grace and can’t grasp the promise of forgiveness. They don’t recognize that we are all sinners and forgiven through grace offered freely to everyone who believes in Jesus as the only true path to the Father.

5… he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. Ephesians 1:5-7.

God’s grace and forgiveness is a prayer away. It’s free to all for the asking, Jesus paid the price for each of us and our ability to find forgiveness is straightforward as explained in 1 John 1:8 – 9.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself. If we believe in God’s grace and that Jesus is the true Messiah, the Savior, and our Redeemer, then we must accept His forgiveness.
God’s grace is free for the asking…. for everyone!

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Through God’s love reflected in the constant guidance by the Holy Spirit, we gradually change our lives from an inward focus to a lifestyle of compassionate service. I’m not a believer that we ever achieve a perfect status…. or even a near perfect status, but we continue to strive to learn and faithfully follow the teachings of Christ. C. S. Lewis writes, “I suggest to you that it is because God loves us that he gives us the gift of suffering. Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much but are what make us perfect.”2 God cleaves away the secular world revealing a child of God that loves the Lord.

We are forgiven, restored, and redeemed through the grace and mercy of a loving Father. We are the disciples of the Living Lord Jesus. We are the keepers of the faith. Someone planted in us the seeds of faith that have grown in fullness and now we bear His fruits. So, who will you tell that Jesus loves them?

Prayer: Lord, forgive our transgressions and weaknesses. Transform us into disciples for the Living Lord Jesus, learning and growing every day in God’s wisdom and blessings. Make us stronger at the weakest points working united to tell the story of Your great love. We make this prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen

 

1 The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?, by Rick Warren January 2002.

2 C. S. Lewis. (n.d.). C. S. Lewis Quotes (purpose, faith, god). Retrieved July 20, 2026, Quotlr.com. https://quotlr.com/author/c-s-lewis.

The Wesleyan Bridge is written by K.B. Kelly with the Reverend Valerie Mireb and Pastor Hank Brooks as Theological Editors with Debbie Kelly as Text and Content Editor.