The Sweetest Forgiveness Found in Jesus

Our family is messy as can be, but if there’s one thing I think we do well, it’s apologies. In fact, it’s probably *because* we’re so messy that we’ve gotten so good at apologies.

Our guy heard me apologize to one of the kids. “Why did you say sorry?” he asked. “You’re the mom. Moms don’t say sorry to kids.”

This was my invitation to share about the beauty of giving & receiving forgiveness. “In a family, we give our family members our very best and, too often, our very worst. We will make mistakes and fail and sin, and we can be forgiven by simply asking for forgiveness—from the other person and from God! I’m the mom, which means I get to teach my kids this by showing them how to do it. AND I mess up a lot, which means I need forgiveness a lot, which means I need to say sorry a lot!”

A couple of days later, he was the one with an opportunity for an apology. I didn’t pull a “repeat after me,” but I did invite him to say he was sorry if, in fact, he was. He said he was sorry, and I pulled him into my arms and told him I forgave him and loved him. It’s become a regular part of his vocabulary since.

This family culture of eager and avid apologies is inspired and enabled by the gospel. The gospel can function in a family to free everyone from explaining and defending and protecting to confessing and repenting and being forgiven.

We can become people who ask for forgiveness and who offer forgiveness, because of how we have been forgiven.

If Jesus died, I don’t need to hide.
If Christ took my shame, there’s no shame left for me.
If my sin was so indefensible that the Son of God had to die for it, I dare not try to defend it.
If he knew and paid for every failing before I even committed it, then I can freely confess it.
If I am justified through grace alone, then I don’t need to keep trying to justify myself.
If I am forgiven, then I can humbly, constantly, enthusiastically ask for forgiveness!

When the gospel functions for us as parents, we can create a family culture that offers our children the sweet freedom of asking for & offering forgiveness—and that, ultimately, points to the sweetest forgiveness found in Jesus.