I have been distraught over those I may have offended in my life, feeling that I might have done better to reach out to them, but now the time is past, some I will probably never see again and the sins of the past remain. They are still there because I didn’t do what it was I should’ve done at the time.
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Matthew 5:23&24
I am aware of God’s grace, but sometimes I get lost in what I could have done better as the bible says we will be judged for every deed, whether it be good or whether it be evil.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14
I try to remain open and conscious of the grace I have been given and have done my part to forgive to the best of my ability. Some offenses I am working on still.
I was tossing this about in my thoughts over much time, listening for the Lord to bring to me the actions I must take to make things right as much as I can. The faces of those I had not been a good Christian witness to, the mistakes I have made, the lack of love I have had for others at times. I know none of us are perfect, but if I had it to do over again…I was able to reach out to some that I had wronged and the Lord worked His wonders.
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Luke 19:8
I finally got an answer: A realization about those things that I cannot redeem, I must forgive their offenses and realize that I can’t always fix the mistakes I have made. Jesus can though. I can only learn and grow in the things He has taught me and hope and pray I don’t make the same mistakes again.
Those people whom I have offended have their responsibility to forgive me and if they don’t, that is between them and God. There is nothing I can do to fix some things. There are times when God will encourage us and prompt us to reach out to someone, to remedy a relationship and allow His power of restoration to occur. There are also times when that is not possible, so in those memories, regrets, those are where I toiled and in those are where the Lord has set me free to trust Him to let them go and realize I can only do what I can do in my humanness. I can’t fix everything, nor can I cover everything. He has done that with the shedding of His blood and the power of His word.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Those people will answer for what they have done and if they do not seek His forgiveness, they will answer for that on judgment day. I can pray for them. I can’t make them confess their sins to the Lord.
I am thankful that in all of my ugliness, the Lord shines His beauty still. He has covered my sins and I stand before Him unashamed. As I worked through this subject, I have appreciated His forgiveness with newness and have felt the washing of the water of the Word. Whether the Lord gives you the opportunity to, along with His power of restoration, to remedy the situation or not, I encourage you to receive the love and forgiveness He has for you and be grateful for the grace God has for us through the sacrifice of Jesus our Lord.