“Salvation is a hard reset; our sin is forgiven and forgotten. We are justified, just as if we had never sinned. But forgiveness is a soft reset. It’s something you need to do over and over again.”- Mark Batterson
“However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love him — these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”- 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV)
In Chapter 10 (“Unoffendable”) of Please Sorry Thanks, Mark Batterson wryly observes that it took one day to get Israel out of Egypt. But it took forty years to get Egypt out of Israel. Therefore, forgiveness doesn’t happen overnight. With the children of Israel, it took forty years.
So, Pastor Batterson notes, when someone acts out of proportion to the offense, most likely they’re reacting to past-tense pain. Rather than present-tense circumstances. Hence, Mark states, the Holy Spirit wears a lot of hats. The Holy Spirit:
- heals, seals, and reveals.
- counsels, convicts, and comforts.
- surfaces subconscious motives and repressed memories.
- google searches the deep web of desires and the dark web of motives.
In conclusion, Mark counsels, pay heed to sins you see as inconsequential. As Song of Songs 2:15 cautions, little foxes ruin the vineyard. Also, Pastor Batterson likens unforgiveness to an elastic band around your ankles. Because bitterness holds us back from making forward progress. So, at some point you must cut the cord.
Furthermore, R. T. Kendall adds:
“The primary way we grieve the Holy Spirit in our lives is by fostering bitterness in our hearts. The absence of bitterness allows the Holy Spirit to be Himself in us. . . . When the Holy Spirit is not grieved, He is at home with me.”
Today’s question: How do you see forgiveness as a soft reset? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Play the victim or play God?”
