He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness.  I Pet.2:24

When someone has hurt me, seeing them reminds me of what they did.  Even after I forgive them, I can still remember when I see them across the room.

When God forgives me, he separates my sin from me.  I no longer wear it when He looks at me.  One of the words for ‘forgive’ is to ‘send away’.  This is what Peter meant when he said, “He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness.”  I Pet.2:24  God took that ‘thing’ for which I repented, took it off of me and put it on Jesus.  Jesus died for it as if He was the One who committed it.  And in turn, Jehovah Tsidkenu clothed me with His own righteousness.

So why wallow in past failures?  Why let my one huge mistake weigh down my spirit?  Jesus took it from me, paid the penalty, and justified me.  When He looks at me, He sees His own perfection.  

I echo David’s words to himself in Psalm 42. “Why are you so downcast, oh my soul?”  Satan is the author of a self-punishing lifestyle.  He takes every failure, magnifies it by a thousand, records it like a movie and plays it over and over again in my head.  He rejoices when I am hard on myself.  He encourages payback and self-hatred.  Unlike Jesus, he offers a heavy robe of guilt and it can appear to fit just right.  Right color.  Right size.  Right length.

When I can’t hold my head up, I remember that I am not my sin!  Christ wore my sin, once and for all, on a cross.  Then He declared, “It is finished.”  Sin, forever removed.  So, who am I?  A forgiven, justified, righteous, child of Jehovah Tsidkenu.

Do I really understand justification yet, Lord?  Write this on my heart.  Amen