Listless

 

…as far as the East is from the West, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.

 

I’m a list keeper. Almost every day I make a list of what needs to be done that day. I’m even one of those who adds things I do that weren’t on the list just so I can cross it off the list. It keeps me organized and productive. It’s hard to play FreeCell with a whole list of what needs to be done in front of me!

Unfortunately this isn’t the only kind of list I’ve been known to keep. Over the years I’ve gotten a lot better about this but early in my marriage I was good at keeping a list of things that bothered me. After awhile I would spill the whole petty list on my dear husband who would incredulously say, “But you never said a word!”

Well, he was right, I had not said a word…out loud. I was busy brewing over these little “offenses” in my mind where they became big deals. I held them against him for months before I would spill them. We would talk, he would apologize or make me understand and I would bring them up again in my list 6 months later.

In the last few weeks I have been studying God’s forgiveness. As part of her definition of forgiveness Nancy Leigh DeMoss points out that to Biblically forgive means that we will never bring up that particular sin against a person again. That’s God’s standard. He removes our sin as far as the East is from the West. He never holds confessed and forgiven sin against us a second time. It’s over, behind us, regardless of what it was. Wow! What would our lives be like if we would do that? Imagine the freedom in no resentment or bitterness towards someone who has hurt us.

Unlike my poor husband who never knew what I was going to bring up in those early years, we can have a very clear answer to what sins we are committing against God. If we ask Him to reveal our sin so we can confess and turn from it He will most certainly reveal it.

Our marriage has been a whole lot smoother since the time my husband sat me down and said, “We’re not doing this anymore. I can’t read your mind. If you have a problem, you tell me.” (Or something really close to that). That’s what I’m recommending to Christians today. If things don’t seem right in your relationship with Jesus Christ, ask Him to tell you what it is that’s hindering it. Then, make the changes necessary to live in the freedom of having those sins removed and never brought against you again.

I’m still in training but God is faithful and true and you can live guilt free when you turn from any sin He points out to you. He’s also more gracious than people are; He doesn’t usually give you a whole list, only what you can handle.