God Forgives Because He’s Good
By Rick Warren
"He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us." Psalm 103:10, 12 (GNT)
God always gives you what you need, not what you deserve.
"He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us" (Psalm 103:10, 12 GNT).
There is no end to the east and west. God takes your sins and completely wipes them out.
When King David in the Bible committed adultery and then covered it up by having Bathsheba’s husband murdered, did David deserve to be forgiven? No. Did David deserve mercy? No. But David knew that God is a good God, and so he asked for mercy: "Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin!" (Psalm 51:1-2 GNT).
When you sin, you can pray that same prayer. And you can pray it confidently because it’s based on who God is, not who you are or what you’ve done.
God forgives you, not because you're good but because he is good. You don’t have to try to be good enough. You’ll never be good enough! That’s what’s so amazing about God’s grace.
When you ask for God’s forgiveness, he forgives you immediately and completely. This is a big deal. Whatever you’ve done, God doesn’t reject you when you sin. He receives you with open, loving arms.
This is amazing to us because it’s the exact opposite of what people do. When you sin against someone, do they want to receive you back? Absolutely not. They want to be distant and push you away. They don’t want to receive you—because you’ve hurt them.
But God is love and full of goodness. He loves you because love is his nature. His goodness and love are the reasons you get what you need, not what you deserve.
You don’t deserve grace and forgiveness—none of us do. Thank God he gives it to us anyway!
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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