VOICE OF TRUTH FOR TODAY
A Journey to Forgiveness
I accepted Jesus at an early age, but my story isn’t one dramatic conversion moment. Mine is a story of unending grace and unconditional love that followed me through nearly forty years of wandering.
After my parents’ painful divorce, my life changed dramatically at age ten. Although church remained part of my life, fear, doubt, and worthlessness crept in. By my late teens, sex, drugs, alcohol, and destructive choices had taken hold. I sometimes compare myself to the Israelites wandering toward the Promised Land. Even in their rebellion, God continually provided—and even in mine, His grace and protection remained.
Just before turning forty, after two failed marriages and many painful memories, I moved from Ohio to Florida. I thought of it as my own “Promised Land,” and God began opening an entirely new life with Jesus at the center.
Yet I discovered I had brought my baggage with me.
I had received salvation, but I hadn’t allowed Jesus to heal me from the inside out. Past hurts, habits, and unforgiveness—especially unforgiveness toward myself—were keeping me from fully receiving what Christ had already purchased.
Through inner healing, God began showing me that Jesus had been present even in moments when I thought I was completely alone. As I released what He had already died for, I became free to receive His grace.
Romans 8:1 says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NIV).
Forgiveness flows from Jesus to us and then through us to others. We cannot keep punishing ourselves for something Christ has already carried to the cross.
So what burden are you still carrying? What resentment, shame, or condemnation needs to be placed in Jesus’ hands? His grace followed me through the wilderness. It will meet you there too.
Are you ready to be free?
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Excerpt from Voice of Truth Magazine
“Gospel Grace” by Stacy Jo Coffee-Thorne