Peace Week 2: Tuesday

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23

As human beings, we are conditioned to expect people to have a limit on how many times they will offer forgiveness. For example, if you are late paying your rent or mortgage one time, you might be offered forgiveness and not be given a late fee, but if you are late two or three times, you will not be offered that same forgiveness. Because this is our human experience, it can be tempting to view God’s forgiveness in this same way. This cannot be further from the truth. You see, God repeatedly offers forgiveness to us. He is not giving us two or three chances and then refusing to forgive anymore. God repeatedly, constantly, and without holding back will always forgive us when we turn to Him.

We can read about God’s unending forgiveness in the book of Lamentations. Chapter 3 of Lamentations begins on a bleak note, saying, “Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is” (verse 17), but it does not end there. Have you ever felt like that before? Have you felt stripped of peace, even peace with yourself? Unfortunately, sin and shame can leave us feeling this way often. Through it all, however, we are not without hope. 

Verses 21 through 23 in Lamentations 3 bring new light and life to the chapter. “Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning,” the verses say. Do you notice the shift from the previous verses to verses 21 and 22? We can have hope even in the darkest because of God’s forgiveness. His mercies never end. That means He offers forgiveness every single time we come to Him. How incredible are God and His great forgiveness, which He freely offers! 

Are you feeling hopeless and lost in your sin? Does it feel like you have messed up so many times that there is no way God will possibly forgive you? Look no further than this Scripture passage, which clarifies that God’s forgiveness is never-ending. When we turn to Him, He is loving, compassionate, and forgiving. His mercies are new every single morning.

Moving toward action

Memorize Lamentations 3:22-23 today. Let this verse remind you every day that God’s forgiveness has no end. His forgiveness is always available to you and every single one of us. Praise God for His consistent and repeated forgiveness to all of us when we come to Him!

Going Deeper

Lamentations 3:1-23 (NLT)