“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven.” Romans 4:7, NLT
A certain seminary professor always introduces his class on the New Testament with a story from his own life. As a young man he told a lie to his father and hurt him deeply. For years the matter went unresolved, but the guilt kept gnawing away at him until, finally, he wrote his father a letter. He reviewed the incident and asked for forgiveness. A few days later he received a reply in which the father said, “Of course I remember, and of course I forgive you.” The son said it was like a great weight had fallen from his shoulders, and it made all the difference in his life. Shortly after his father passed away, he went to help his mother with his father’s valuables. He found a box with the letter that he had written, asking for forgiveness.
He opened it and began to read, and with tears running down his cheeks, he turned it over. And there, in his father’s handwriting, was one word: “FORGIVEN!” And it was underlined. In that moment he realized that his father had really let go of the issue. He had written “forgiven” on the letter, then, put it aside in the box of treasures in his attic. What a great gift it was for that son to discover that his father had relinquished all traces of the hurt! This is exactly the way in which God, our Heavenly Father, deals with us. When we are forgiven by God, it is as if we had never done that which caused our estrangement, and our relationship is restored.
