"If Sin Has Its Own Consequences, Are We Really Forgiven?" (a short podcast I just listened to by Greg Boyd).
I am willing to venture a guess that any of us in this thing called Recovery have grappled with this very issue of whether we are forgiven or not for our misdeeds. I'm not truly fond of this term 'sin' but after all it's just another word for Shortcoming or Defect of Character.
Some years ago, after a church service I sat contemplating what I could best say in my next speech for MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Suddenly I heard a voice in my spirit mind say, "What? Do you think you can do a better job with Little Timmy then I can?"
I have heard that Voice several times during my life both before and after recovery, and I know full well not to ignore this Voice. While the Voice did not say I was forgiven for what I did, nor did it say there would not be consequences as a natural result of what I did, but what is really interesting is that notwithstanding the entirety of my past, this voice still speaks to me today. At some point I became convinced that sometimes God uses the worst of us to help the best of us. There are many examples in history of people who lead really discrepant lives but then God intervened and turned their lives around.
I have no certain knowledge that I have been forgiven for killing Little Timmy and for other sins that escaped legal consequences of this world. Forgiven or not, I feel like I am loved by God and that is good enough for me. I will do my best to try to love others and see life through the Eyeglasses of Love.
To build and perfect love is God's greatest work! All we need to do is get out of our own way, and Let Go & Let God.
Anyone else care to weigh in on the idea of whether they feel forgiven or not because of their past?
Here’s the Podcast Link: https://reknew.org/2019/07/if-sin-has-its-own-consequences-are-we-really-forgiven-podcast/