GOD DOES NOT ACT LIKE US, THANK GOD

One of the reasons, perhaps the main reason, why we sometimes have so much difficulty in understanding God and God’s infinite love and forgiveness is that we think God acts the way we do. Sometimes we think, and perhaps secretly hope, that God treats others just as we treat others. This is especially true when it comes to our own sinfulness, when we deliberately hurt others, often for what we believe are justifiable reasons. We have been hurt and we believe it is all right to hurt in return.

We do not deny that we are sinners even as we try to find reasons to excuse our selfish actions. We know we have sinned and we know we have offended our God. That is a given. But what we, at least somewhere in the back of our minds, also consider a given is that God should and will punish us for those sins. Again and after all, is that not the mindset we have when we deal with fellow human beings when they selfishly hurt us? We want those who have caused us pain to have to suffer pain in return. That is only fair and just, is it not?

That is a very human emotion and reaction. We want to get even. We often attempt to get even. Because we cannot undo the harm that has been inflicted upon us or erase the pain and suffering that we endured, we feel we have to get some measure of revenge. We simply cannot allow the sinner to get off scot-free. Unconditional forgiveness is almost if not beyond the pale of our imagination.

What is unfortunate is that we transfer this human way of behaving and thinking to God. If we cannot simply forgive and forget, how can God? Why should God? Sinners that we are, how can we ever stand before God, especially in death, “holy and blameless and irreproachable”, to use Paul’s words. We know we are not holy. We sinned and sinned often. We have no one else to blame but ourselves and we know it. And irreproachable? Get serious!

And yet we will indeed be able to stand before God in just such a state. Our sins will not only be forgiven but they will not even be remembered. They will be erased from memory and we will stand before God with a clean slate. The only problem is that as much as we want to believe that truth of our faith, we find it quite difficult to do so. Why? Again, I believe the reason is that we think God thinks and acts as we do even as we hope God does not. Thankfully God does not.

Now none of this means that we have a blank check to do whatever we want, sin as much as we desire, because God always forgives us. That is nonsense. The reason why we stop hurting those we love is that we hurt ourselves in the process. The reason why we stop doing anything selfish and sinful is that we finally come to grips with how much pain we have caused.

What it does mean is that our response to God’s ultimate graciousness and forgiveness is to live a life of loving thanks as best we can, knowing we will often fail each day of our lives but resolving to be better the next day. That is all we can do and all God expects.