Forgiveness
What is Love?
No, I’m not referring to Haddaway’s 1990’s hit, revived by the SNL ‘Roxbury’ sketches.
Every year around Valentine’s Day, 1 Corinthians 13 trends on Twitter and Facebook because of its references to love. The same passage is so commonly used in wedding ceremonies (mine included) that it’s almost a pre-requisite.
I’m tempted to roll my eyes at the litany of 1 Corinthians 13 Tweets and status updates, because the word used in that passage for love is a Greek word (agapē). Agapē describes the love that only God can manifest, not the romantic love (eros) touted on February 14th. Agapē is the word used in 1 John 4:8 to describe God Himself. By contrast, the Greek word used in the Bible to describe the interrelationships of humans is phileō.
Not Even Eyelids
He was perched atop his booster seat, at the table in my kitchen, hair wild from a nap and up to his elbows in raisins. I was full-time Auntie for the weekend, while my sister and her husband were away. In his parents’ absence, my nephew came to me for all things: his injuries (which, thankfully, were few), his delights (which, thankfully, were many), and his various needs like shoe-tying, snack-making, book-reading, and more snack-making. I enjoyed what felt like celebrity treatment from him and we had a terrific weekend together.As he enjoyed a bounty of raisins with his brother and my children around our table, an ‘incident’ occurred. Nothing major, mind you, but an infraction on his part that required correction. I was tempted to overlook it, desirous of preserving my rock star status in his eyes, but it was [sigh] necessary.
Due to the patient and dedicated teaching of his parents, my nephew’s conscience was already pricked over his wrongdoing. I knew because I saw it on his face: his head was cocked ever-so-slightly away from me, and his eyes squinted shut, the smallest crows’ feet wrinkling his perfect three-year-old skin. You see, he’d gone to his own special place. Away from me. His toddler rationale: if he couldn’t see me, then I couldn’t see him. And if I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t discipline him.
Nice try, slim.
It was as darling as it was absurd.
We’re not able to conceal ourselves and our wrongdoings from God any more than closing his eyes eclipsed him from my vision. Much as I wished to lovingly teach, correct and restore my nephew, so too the Lord invites our confessions:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
— 1 John 1:9 NLTPeople who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.
— Proverbs 28:13 NLT
Our Father spared nothing, not even His Son, to secure our forgiveness. The knowledge that forgiveness has already been extended should liberate us to freely, though not flippantly, seek Him for restoration.
As a parent (and Auntie), I pray my children find me merciful in hearing their admissions of guilt. I hope I demonstrate, in some small fashion, the loving instruction and grace so generously offered to me in Christ Jesus. As a child of God, I pray I will run to my God for His merciful forgiveness, trusting fully in the sacrifice made to secure it for me.
We needn’t hide. Nothing we do, no sin we commit, can separate us from God if we have trusted in Christ. Nothing. Not even eyelids.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
— Romans 8:38,39