God doesn’t, and will never hold our sins against us. Man does sometimes, but God does not. We have to step into our inheritance, which is bigger than we can fully grasp or understand. Part of it, though, is that we are forgiven. God invites us to treat each other as He treats us.

Romans 4:6-9 says,

^6-9 “David confirms this way of looking at it, saying that the one who trusts God to do the putting-everything-right without insisting on having a say in it is one fortunate man:

Fortunate those whose crimes are whisked away,
    whose sins are wiped clean from the slate.
Fortunate the person against
    whom the Lord does not keep score.

Do you think for a minute that this blessing is only pronounced over those of us who keep our religious ways and are circumcised? Or do you think it possible that the blessing could be given to those who never even heard of our ways, who were never brought up in the disciplines of God? We all agree, don’t we, that it was by embracing what God did for him that Abraham was declared fit before God?”

Jesus covered us in His blanket of love when He died for us. To walk in that forgiveness, we must go and do the same. We are called to radical forgiveness over picking up an offense and letting bitterness into our hearts. If we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us. I know this sounds like a contradiction, but stay with me-

In Matthew 6:14-15 it says,

^14-15 “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.

We are in a partnership with God. His covenant of marriage with us looks like us learning His ways, and walking them out with each other. We are to love each other with the same passion we love Him with. If we are loving Him with our whole selves, we are loving others the same.

In Matthew 22:37-40 it says,

^37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

This means that we do not withhold our love to punish someone for hurting us. Love and forgiveness are our super powers to overcome any offense. Keeping our love on while establishing honor for others is key. We can honor others because we are honorable. When we stay in the victorious mindset that God is working all things together for our good as He states in Romans 8:28, we can be still and know He is God and He will protect us and take care of us.

^26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28

We get to embrace the mystery of God! He invites us into partnership, but He does the heavy lifting. We can cast our cares onto Him because He cares for us.

“casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” 1 Peter 5:7

Again, we cannot approach God, nor refuse to approach Him out of fear of punishment. He is only loving, only good. He does discipline us because He loves us, but it is not punishment. He gently guides us and directs us, and when we get it wrong, He lets us know. We might feel a brief pang of recognition that we got it wrong, but death has lost its sting, and we can fall into His arms like a child and receive His wisdom on how to do it right the next time. Often, His discipline is grace, that empowers us to receive the correction and walk in closer nearness to His heart. We must have clean hands and a pure heart, unoffended and unoffendable. If we see an offense, we have a choice to either pick it up, or leave that formed weapon alone and posture our heart to ask God what He is thinking and doing in the moment. He is our constant companion, our comforter. We have a lifeline that we couldn’t earn, it is the personal phone number to God most high. We can call, text, or FaceTime whenever we want. Let’s step into His River of life, His River of Love, and stop punishing one another, but love and forgive each other like He does.

I love you, but Jesus loves you more!