This past Sunday, I visited Grace Bible Church in Oxford, MS. J.D. Shaw preached an excellent sermon on mercy and forgiveness, from which the following illustration is adapted.
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Imagine you are a parent of a 4-year-old daughter.
Your daughter has an afternoon full of misbehavior: tossing food, interrupting conversation, throwing temper tantrums.
Everything feels twice as hard (and takes twice as long) as it should.
You tiredly tuck her into bed at the end of the night. Before you click off the light, your daughter says, “Mommy [or Daddy]?”
“Yes, dear?”
“I am sorry for being bad today.”
Your heart melts. This is no rote apology—just a sincere, childlike desire to be right with her parent.
How do you respond? Do you say, “It’s about time you apologized, you little brat!”?
Of course not! (Hopefully)
You hug and kiss your daughter, saying, “Of course I forgive you, honey.” You are happy to see the relieved look of a child content to trust her parent’s love and forgiveness.
In a strange way, you are *almost* happy she misbehaved that day—not for the pain of her disobedience, but for the sweet fellowship that came through her repentance and the reconciliation that followed.
How much more will our Heavenly Father joyfully forgive us when we draw near to him for mercy and help? (cf. Luke 15:7)
When you repent of your sin, God doesn’t say, “It’s about time you apologized, you little brat!” God will not treat his children less charitably than (even the most loving) human parents (Matt. 7:9-11; Ps. 27:10).
When we confess our sins, God embraces us, saying, “Of course I forgive you” (cf. Luke 15:20; 1 John 1:9).
God doesn’t delight in our sin (1 Cor. 13:6), but he does delight in showing us mercy after we sin (Mic. 7:18). And he delights to see the relief on our faces when we believe him—trusting his love and forgiveness, then pursuing new obedience.
Believer, rejoice today knowing that God is not begrudging or stingy with his mercy, but eager and abundant. When you turn to God in repentance, God runs to you in forgiveness.
Praise the Lord for his lavish mercy and grace!
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Blake Glosson is a pastoral resident at Chapelstreet Church in Geneva, Illinois, and an MDiv student at Reformed Theological Seminary. He has been published by The Gospel Coalition and Crosswalk.com and republished and/or referred by Eternal Perspective Ministries (Randy Alcorn), Challies.com (Tim Challies), Moody Radio (here, here, and here), The JOY FM (The Morning Cruise with Dave, Bill, and Carmen), ChurchLeaders.com, The Aquila Report, Monergism.com, and numerous other sources. Previously, he served as the director of young adults at New Covenant Bible Church in St. Charles, Illinois.
Listen to J.D. Shaw’s sermon on forgiveness here.
Read “Where Do You Turn When You Repent?” here.
Read “How to Give (and Receive) Repentance” here.
Read “Am I Sinning? Six Questions For Moral Gray Areas” here.
Read “In Suffering, God is Not (Simply) Teaching You a Lesson” here.
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