I’m a writer. Churning out plot lines, developing backstories, driving character arcs… it’s all so fulfilling, thrilling and cathartic. Honestly, I feel the same way watching a movie or TV plot unfold as I do when I’m penning my own manuscript.
And that’s how this post came to be.
I was writing one of my never-ending fiction stories in which – through an inability to overcome hardship on his own – one of the characters comes to finally know God on a personal level, through prayer. A few years later, he accepts Christ. Soon after, when giving a speech at an event, he shares the truth about Christ with an audience.
Once I finished that section of the story, I realized that it just might be the best piece of writing I’ve ever penned about Jesus and forgiveness.
And so, I decided to share it on this site.
I’m only sharing that background with you because I usually keep my novels and short stories to myself. (It would be one thing for someone to swipe one of my blog posts, and quite another for someone to take a piece of a story that I’ve written.) But any chance to share the Gospel – or to help you share the Gospel – is incredibly important to me. So here we go:
Excerpt from a fictional story that I’ve been writing for years. This character is not me:
“The very first time I ever talked to God was in 2021.
I was really depressed. For like two weeks, I couldn’t snap out of it. I couldn’t eat or sleep. I couldn’t stop crying. One night, I was laying down at home by myself and I got to the point where, out of nowhere, I just started yelling at God. It was probably the most honest that I’d ever been in my life. And I just said everything I needed to say and I fell asleep. And when I woke up, I felt lighter than I ever felt in my life.
Something major would then rock me to my core a few months later, but the point is: Once I knew God, I knew God. I wouldn’t have been able to get through that next thing if I didn’t know God. I learned that God loves us on a personal scale. He drew me to Him through my personal issues and He addressed my needs on that level.
And then, a few years later, I learned about Jesus. One of my friends shared the Gospel with me and, ever since, I’ve learned more and more. I’ve learned that God also loves us on a grand scale, and it’s shown through Jesus.
Not everyone is God’s child. God’s children are those who believe in Jesus. Not people who seem like they always do the right thing. It’s those who believe in Jesus. His children are the ones who know how much God hates sin. Sin can be as major as hurting someone and taking their life. Or it can be as ‘little’ as thinking something hateful. As His children, we know that we will sin in some type of way every day. But God does not play around with sin.
Before Jesus, when you would do something wrong, the method of reconciling with God was way more intense. There were priests who would go and give a sacrifice on your behalf, and they’d have specific times to do this. Because of this, the reconciliation was only temporary. But things are different now. Jesus bore the sins of all God’s children when He was crucified on the cross and then resurrected. He absorbed every punishment for every single one of our sins right there on the cross. Everything that God should punish me for, Jesus absorbed it. All so that I can one day be with God in Heaven; safe, and whole, and loved.
You only have to give your life to Christ one time, and then you’re saved. But whenever you realize that you’ve sinned, you should confess it to Him and repent; which means to turn away from that action. The big picture to all of this is that one day, all God’s children will be by His side; in a place where there’s no evil.
What does all this mean to me? It means everything. It means that this life right now is gonna be what it is. It’s going to have its moments. I’ve got stuff coming up which I know is gonna knock me down for a second. But nothing in this life is pointless. I can hold on to the good – because the good is good. But nothing bad is permanent. My friend puts it like this: Everything you go through is either for your salvation or for someone else’s.
When it comes to forgiveness, I’m reminded that God will forgive all His children. Of everything. And so there are people who hurt me who may one day truly come to Christ. And, if they do, it’ll be because they’re convicted about who God is, and they’re humbled by who they are, and they’re sorry for what they’ve done. If I’m being honest, them giving their life to Christ would be the only apology I’d ever really trust.
If they don’t come to Christ – it doesn’t matter whether they apologize to me or not – they’ll get there’s. Because you can’t apologize to me and not apologize to God. I don’t say that joyfully because I don’t really wish God’s wrath on anybody. And this is how I know that God is changing my heart. I don’t want to be cool with certain people because they terrify me. But God’s helping me to forgive simply by realizing that this battle is bigger than I can imagine. And it’s not in my hands.
When it comes to viewing myself in a better light, one of my friends reminded me that when you give your life to Christ, you’re made new in Him. And I’ve been trying to keep that in mind: That when I’m going through those times when I only view myself in a negative way, the only eyes that matter are God’s. Not mine, not anyone else’s. And when He sees me, He sees that I’m covered by Jesus. And so I’m not perfect, but He sees me covered by His perfect Son.
So, God’s hand has been all over my life…”
Lexzie in Christ 