Forgiven Completely
Thursday’s Verse:
From Colossians 3:13 NIV
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
During the next week, we will focus on a devotional theme entitled “The Greatest Mystery: Uncovering Forgiveness.” Today, our theme is revisiting an old hurt that hasn’t been fully healed.
Some hurts we think we’ve buried. Years go by. Life happens. We forget them. Until something small jerks us back. A memory. A name. That tightness in your chest again. And suddenly that scar isn’t healed at all.
We keep a lot of these hurts private. We tell ourselves we’ve already forgiven. We tell ourselves we should be over it by now. Forgiveness isn’t always a one-time decision. Sometimes it’s revisiting that old grave...over and over again because the hurt creeps back up.
Paul doesn’t brush that under the rug in Colossians. “Bear with each other…” Bear with others. Bear with yourself. Bear with your slow forgiveness. And then: “forgive… as the Lord forgave you.” That right there.
Jesus didn’t wait to forgive us until we were done sinning. Until the wounds no longer hurt. He came while we were still stuck in them. His forgiveness is relentless because it doesn’t depend on how far we’ve healed.
When an old wound surfaces, it’s not a sign you failed at forgiving. It’s an invitation. An invitation to bring that hurt back to Christ. To plead, “Lord, this still hurts. Let me forgive again.”
And He will. Over and over again. Forgivenessfully.
You don’t have to force yourself to forget. You don’t have to pretend to be healed. You can go back to Him...time and time again...because He has forgiven you, completely.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord God, thank you that you know the hurts I’ve gone through, even the old ones I thought I forgot. When pains from my past bubble back up, help me remember your love. Remind me to forgive others as you have forgiven me. I trust you are still making everything new. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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