BAD AT LAUNDRY?
I’m not very good at doing the laundry (or washing as we call it). I collect the dirty clothes, and throw them into the washing machine, sometimes remembering to empty the pockets first. I select the program (one of two, despite the fact that the machine has about 12), tip in the detergent, and press start. I rarely pre-soak items, or pre-treat stains. Which is why I don’t think I am very good at laundry. Despite all the claims of the detergent ads, my washed clothes often still come out of the machine bearing stains. My excuse is that my physical limitations mean that I often don’t have the energy to do more when it comes to the laundry. That my family get clean (and sometimes even ironed) clothes in exchange for their dirty ones, is an achievement in itself.
EFFECTIVE STAIN REMOVAL
So why am I talking about washing out stains in a devotional blog? Actually the link to what scripture says is perhaps quite obvious. Isaiah tells us that God takes our filthy rags, our scarlet stains, and makes them white as snow (Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 1:18). We are washed, made clean, completely clean, in the precious blood of Jesus. Our sins stains are removed completely. That is a wonderful truth, but it struck me that sometimes we fail to live in the truth that our sins are completely and eternally forgiven. That they are gone, leaving no mark behind.
STAINS THAT ONLY I CAN SEE
I was thinking about this the other day when dejectedly examining another favourite top that had come through the wash still bearing the fat stains from a spitting frying pan (I’m not good at wearing an apron in the kitchen either!) Actually, I decided, those stains were small enough that nobody but me would probably notice them. Especially if I wore a strategically placed scarf.
You see I think we look at ourselves sometimes, knowing that we have been cleansed and forgiven by God, and insist on seeing stains still. Those stains that no-one else sees, but we know are there. Stains of secret shame, unforgiveness towards ourselves, disappointment in the choices we might have made in the past. The sheer inability to forget what God has already forgiven.
FORGIVING OURSELVES
In my novel, The Pilgrim, I explored the whole subject of how living with shame, and not being able to forgive yourself, can become like a heavy burden, a yoke around our necks. My central character, Brother Hywel, has come to the cross, repented and found forgiveness from God, but he needs to take a step further. There are things he has done in his past that he is so ashamed of that he can’t let go of the guilt. It is the story of another character’s inner healing that speaks truth into Hywel’s life.
‘I realised that I too was still punishing myself, in my mind at least. I knew God had forgiven me, but I had not been able to forgive myself, brother. That is what weighed me down. As I laid down to sleep I prayed earnestly that God would give me the grace to forgive myself, and to perhaps see myself as worthy to be loved by Him. I asked Him to take away that final part of the burden that I was still choosing to carry.‘
PERFECTLY STAIN FREE
Romans 8:1 tells us
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
If we belong to Christ, then we are no longer condemned. Every stain is gone. If God does not condemn me, than neither should I condemn myself. There is a call to walk according to His Spirit, to not knowingly sin of course. And we need to be truly repentant for our mistakes. But once we have come to the Cross and received His forgiveness, it is a done deal. Accepting and receiving God’s forgiveness in all of its fullness means letting go of our guilt and self-condemnation once and for all. The stain is gone. He no longer sees it, and I don’t need to go looking for it.
Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021.
‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022, and her third novel, ‘The Bride‘, published on 20th October 2023. Her first non-fiction book, an Advent Devotional, ‘Christ Illuminated‘ was published in September 2023.
More information on Joy, and her books can be found here