What is forgiveness?

I have experienced forgiveness before from God, but sometimes it can make me complacent in my own mind and it becomes more of a distant, watered down gift from God. But indeed it should not be seen that way. Many of us take forgiveness for granted as I have. I continue to pursue thoughts and feelings because they make me feel good about myself when in essence they are destroying my soul and my relationship with God. I need to take time to realize how disappointed God has been with me lately. I have been, once again, running my own life and experiencing those empty sinful pleasures that eat away at my heart. Satan doesn't spend as much time tempting non believers as he does believers because he already has them in his grasp. He places more of his effort into destroying what Christians have been building up since the creation of man. He will take a Christian and tempt them 100 fold than someone who is not a Christian. We as Christians need to be aware of that. It is the difference between following God or disappointing Him. I don't know about you, but when I disappoint God and realize I am doing it I become very ashamed of myself. Today was a day of asking for forgiveness and turning away from the sinful pleasures I have been choosing over God. When you ask for forgiveness you need to use the following steps:

First, God wants a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In other words, be humble and approach God with humility.

Second, tell God the whole story. He already knows what happened, but He wants to hear it from your lips. And you can't lie to God because He already knows the truth.

Thirdly, don't condemn others for God will bring condemnation back to you four fold: in 2 Samuel 12:1-7a David is confronted by Nathan about a story of a rich man who robbed the poor man of his one ewe. David condemned the man to death and stated he should pay back four fold what he took from the poor man. Nathan was talking about David robbing Uriah of Bathsheba and having Uriah killed in battle. David knew he had been discovered. The following verses talk about the deaths of David's four sons: 2 Samuel 12:14; 13:28, 18:14-15; and 1 Kings 2:24-25.

God will truly forgive you when you tell Him what you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness. Be sure to remember the Jesus' plea in Mathew 7:1-5: Don't judge lest you be judged. Do not talk about the speck in your brother's eye until you remove the plank from your own eye.