“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
I bowed my head to pray and to forgive someone who had hurt me years ago. As I was praying, I started to say things like “they probably didn’t mean it…”
And the Holy Spirit stopped me right there. “Don’t make excuses. Bring the sin into the Light. Acknowledge it, all of it, so that you can completely forgive it.”
Of course He was right. If I’d made excuses for the sin and acknowledged only part of it, I would only be able to forgive a part of it, and the rest would continue to grow its bitter root in my heart.
Jesus hung on the cross, wearing only a mocking crown of thorns on His head, fully exposed to the crowd, the elements, the humiliation, and became sin. My sin and your sin.
Our sin was on Him, and none of it was covered. He laid bare before the Holy Light of the Father, with every sin heaped upon Him, offering up Himself as a sacrifice. Nothing was held back. No excuses were made. It was raw and ugly. Sin always is.
And it was forgiven. All of it.
When we stand before the Father asking for forgiveness for our sin, or forgiving another, bring it into the Light. All of it. Acknowledge it, no matter how painful and ugly and humiliating it is. And let God pull the sin’s darkness out from the roots and plant His peace in its place.