A local newspaper once published this little poem tucked between two articles: "My sins, God forgives them, but my wife, she hasn't forgiven them yet." The pastor who shared this line was laughing about it that Sunday morning, right in the middle of Mother's Day. It makes you smile because it's true. Forgiveness may be the hardest thing to receive and to give in a life of faith. We confess, we cry, we ask God to wash us clean, and yet the wounds themselves stay very much alive around us.
This Sunday, May 17, 2026, was a special one. Mother's Day, but also a call to face head on a reality we'd often rather avoid: our grudges, our silences, our old wounds. The preacher took us from a lighthearted news story all the way up to the mountaintop where Jesus, before ascending into heaven, promises his disciples that he will stay with them, even the ones who still doubted. Here's what you can take from it.
Outline of the message
1. Why forgiveness is so difficult
2. What Ayako Miura understood before the cross
3. "You are precious in my eyes": the voice that reaches you
4. From the ark of the covenant to free access in Christ
5. "I am with you, even when you doubt"
1. Why forgiveness is so difficult
We have emotions. Man or woman, child or elderly, we can be deeply wounded by a careless word. And sometimes, we're the ones who hurt someone without meaning to. We ask for forgiveness for years, without ever receiving it. Or the reverse: someone hurt us, we know the Gospel, we know we should forgive, but every time we run into that person or remember the scene, everything comes rushing back.
The preacher said it plainly: forgiving, and being forgiven, is one of the heaviest things there is. Our feelings don't obey us. We can have been redeemed by Christ, know ourselves to be children of God, and still find within us that little voice still judging the other person: "Why doesn't that person forgive?" We end up condemning the one who condemns us. And instead of getting lighter, the heart grows heavier.
2. What Ayako Miura understood before the cross
The preacher shared a passage from an essay by Ayako Miura (三浦綾子), the famous Japanese Christian novelist. After becoming a believer, and famous for her work Hyōten, she tells how, back when she was still a young author, another Christian started speaking badly of her: "People respect her now, but before she met Jesus, you know, she was worse than you think." Some of it was true. Other parts were exaggerated, distorted, almost cruel.
Ayako Miura carried this weight for months. She slept poorly. She told herself, "I forgive, but why doesn't she forgive?" And that thought drew her into judging the one who was judging her. She went in circles.
One morning, while praying and reading her Bible, the cross was revealed to her. She understood this: "Jesus, who died for me, knows a darkness within me far deeper than anything this friend could have exposed. He knows the worst corners of my heart, and he died anyway. He has already forgiven me everything." At that moment, she felt her heart grow light. The weight had lifted.
She didn't say she had become numb to injustice. She said that Christ's gaze upon her had come to eclipse the gaze of others.
3. "You are precious in my eyes": the voice that reaches you
The preacher then quoted Isaiah 43. God declares to his people: "Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…" He is saying this to you, today.
Look at what this actually means. The Father's love embraces the whole of who you are, past, present, future. The faults you still regret. The faults you haven't even noticed yet. The ones you'll commit next week without realizing it. Everything is already covered by the blood of Jesus.
The first letter of John writes it in black and white: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). "All" unrighteousness. Not only the ones you clearly recognize. Also the ones God sees and you're still unaware of.
4. From the ark of the covenant to free access in Christ
The preacher then took us back to the Old Testament. In Exodus 25, God commands Moses to build the ark of the covenant: a small chest, about 3 feet 8 inches long, 2 feet 2 inches wide and high, overlaid with gold, topped with a mercy seat, the "cover of forgiveness." Inside, the two tablets of the Law.
This chest was so holy that it was placed in the Most Holy Place, behind the veil of the sanctuary. Only one man, the high priest, could approach it, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, bringing the blood of the sacrifice. One man, one time. The rest of the people stayed at a distance from the presence of God.
And then Jesus came. He went up to the cross. The veil was torn. The blood he shed opened a permanent way to the Father. What the high priest could only do once a year, you can now live out every day, with every prayer, with every breath.
Forgiveness is no longer a rare, distant ritual. It's an open door in front of you.
5. "I am with you, even when you doubt"
The sermon reached its peak in Matthew 28:16-20. Risen, having appeared to his disciples for forty days, Jesus takes them to the mountain in Galilee, just before ascending to heaven from the Mount of Olives. He declares: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
The preacher highlighted a detail the Bible didn't hide. Verse 17 says: "And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." Standing before the risen Jesus, in the very act of worshiping him, some still doubted. The Bible could have left that sentence out to make the testimony look "cleaner." It didn't. It was honest.
And here's the miracle: it's to that group, a mix of faith and doubt, that Jesus speaks. It's to you too, the one who hesitates, who doesn't always believe, who still struggles to forgive or to believe you're forgiven, that he says: "I am with you. Every day. To the end."
Human love does the math. You doubt me? Then I pull away. You hurt me? Then I hurt you back. Christ's love, by contrast, isn't conditional. It doesn't adjust itself to the performance of your faith. It stays.
Key takeaways
- Forgiveness is difficult because our emotions are real. That's not proof of spiritual immaturity, it's an invitation to let the cross work deep within.
- Christ knows far more about you than your accusers could ever expose, and he has already forgiven you everything.
- Your name is written into the declaration of Isaiah 43: you are precious in his eyes.
- What the high priest could only do once a year, you can live out at every moment in Jesus.
- Jesus stays with you even when you doubt. Your weakness doesn't drive him away.
Personal application
- Who, today, is still taking up too much space in your heart because of an unforgiven wound? Can you set that person before the cross, in silence, without forcing a feeling you don't have?
- Is there something you said carelessly, years ago, that hurt someone? What is Jesus inviting you to do this week?
- When you doubt, what's your first reaction? Hiding? Pretending? Or daring to stay before Jesus and say, "I believe, Lord, help my unbelief"?
- How does the promise "I am with you always" change your day tomorrow, in concrete terms?
- Like Ayako Miura, what weight have you been carrying for too long that you could hand over to the cross this morning?
Verses cited
- Isaiah 43:1-4 · "You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you."
- 1 John 1:7-9 · The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin.
- Exodus 25 · The ark of the covenant and the mercy seat.
- Matthew 28:16-20 · The great commission and the promise of his presence.
FAQ
How do I forgive when the wound is still fresh?
Forgiveness isn't a feeling you manufacture. It's a decision you make before God, often before the heart follows. Like Ayako Miura, start by gazing at the cross: what Christ has already forgiven in you. The heart will then let itself be reached. Sometimes in one morning. Sometimes over several years.
Is doubting a sin?
Matthew 28 shows that Jesus doesn't reject those who doubt, he entrusts them with the mission. Doubt isn't the enemy of faith, it's often its companion. What matters is staying present before Jesus instead of running away.
Do I have to forgive even if the other person doesn't ask for forgiveness?
Forgiving before God, yes, always, because the grudge eats away at you. Reconciliation with the other person, though, also depends on their willingness. The two aren't the same thing. Entrust both to the Lord, at his pace.
to take notes and ask questions.