Spilled Milk

Whoever said not to cry over spilled milk clearly never spilled it in the trunk of their car the day before a heat wave struck. Yeah, I have. And yeah, it could be worth a few tears. It turns out when you toss your groceries in the trunk of your car, you have to be concerned with more than just putting the bread on top. Whoops. The gallon laid on its side and out leaked the milk on the drive home. Don't worry, I wasn't foolish enough to leave it. After clearing out the groceries I scrubbed and scrubbed and felt pretty good about things. Even when I got in the car that evening life was good. The next day, however, the thermometer read 60 degrees and when I opened the car door, my gag reflex got a pretty good workout.

I couldn't help but see how this relates to our walks with God. Bear with me and I'll explain. You see, I've met so many people that struggle with the guilt, pain and shame of past sins. They lived a rough life before they knew Christ and when they came to know him, he cleaned them up, forgave them and changed their lives. But so many people refuse to live in that forgiveness. They refuse to forgive themselves. You open the trunk of their lives and their past hits them in the face every time they try to move forward.

I also see a lot of spilled milk in marriages. It is so easy to find ammunition in past fights for present ones. Have you ever done this? Have you ever been in the middle of a fight, disagreement or argument and in order to make your point pulled out a list of all the past transgressions your spouse has made? Transgressions you had supposedly worked through and forgiven? I have and friends, it isn't pretty. Spilled milk never is.

Both of these cases are so common in our lives. We either can't forgive ourselves or we can't forgive others completely. Usually it's a little of both is sprinkled throughout our lives. But this is not how God intended us to live. Once we come to him and truly repent of our sins, we are free. Once we recognize our mistakes and seek to fully follow Christ, he cleans up the spilled milk in our lives. Psalm 103 puts it beautifully when it says, "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (10-12). God doesn't hold onto our sins. He forgives and forgets. We must learn to do the same.

Please understand that I don't mean that we should skip through life sinning and smiling because we think we're pulling a fast one on God. We need true repentance and a heart that longs to follow him. But if you are actively seeking his face and desiring to walk in the path of his commands, take joy in the knowledge that you are forgiven and set free. Don't walk around with the chains of bondage from past sins. God has forgiven them and so should you.

And because God has done this for us, we need to extend that same courtesy to others. Jesus makes it very clear when he says, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14-15). So when others spill milk into your life, clean it up and make sure it is truly gone. If you're like me, you probably won't be able to do this on your own, but with God's grace and guidance he will help you to forgive every day, every minute, every second. Make the choice to forgive and ask God for the help to live that out.

Believe God when he tells you that you are forgiven. Believe him when he tells you that you are worthwhile. Believe him when he cleans up your life and changes you. The change won't take place overnight, but you will continue to grow in him each day if you ask him. And believe him when he tells you to forgive others. He extended the courtesy first, who are we to do any different? Work this forgiveness into your life. Daily. Say goodbye to that spilled milk stench you have tried and tried to get rid of on your own. You can't, but God can. And when he does, take a deep breath and breathe in the fresh, sweet, clean air that is forgiveness.