The Liberty of Forgiveness

By Jesus, speaking in prophecy
Steps to forgiveness, for those who feel they have messed up badly

Download Audio (8.15MB)

I want to teach you a simple truth, My friend: You can never be too bad for Me. No matter how much wrong you have done, no matter how wicked you feel, you are not too bad to receive My love and forgiveness, if you will just ask Me in sincerity to forgive you.

No one else is too bad to receive My love and forgiveness either. Maybe others have wronged you and you want to blame them. Maybe there has been injustice in your life and you’re suffering as a result. There is a fire in your bosom as you cry out for revenge. You might feel determined, no matter how long you have to wait, to make those who hurt you pay for their crime.

Those feelings, thoughts, and plans come from the dark world where evil reigns and there is no peace. To continue in this way will only bring you pain. You will never find the satisfaction or feeling of closure that you seek. The desire for revenge, for payback, is a prison of the spirit. There is only one way to find freedom from such bondage, and that is through forgiveness.

To embrace the liberty of forgiveness in its totality, there are three steps:

1. You must forgive those who have wronged you. If you don’t forgive those who have hurt you, I can’t forgive you for the wrongs you have done.

2. You must ask for My forgiveness. No matter how horrible you see yourself, even if you feel you are cursed and despised by God, you must move past this and reach out as a little child for this gift of forgiveness that I want to give you. A child doesn’t ask questions and examine the gift before determining if he will receive it. He simply reaches out, accepts, and feels the joy that is his as a recipient of something wonderful. That is how I wish for you to be, dear one, like a child who doesn’t question, but who simply receives My forgiveness, given freely as you ask, believe, and receive.1

3. You must forgive yourself. Carrying the burden of your guilt after you have forgiven and been forgiven is not a burden that you must bear. You can find freedom through forgiveness.

Know, My friend, that I died for you and I love you. You can never be too bad for Me. I will never turn you away. Find the peace that forgiveness brings, and let Me lead you to a new and better day.

+

I’m often more welcomed by those who are sinners and by those whom the world looks down on than I am by those who think they’re good and doing okay.2 When some of the so-called righteous folks of My day were complaining about this, I explained how I felt about things when I told them that I’d come to help those who are sick, not those who are whole. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.3

With everything I did and said during My life on earth, I tried to make it clear over and over that there was no one so bad that I couldn’t forgive them and love them if they would just let Me. Even when I was dying on the cross and there was nothing more that I could do, My Father allowed Me one last opportunity to prove this once and for all, for all eternity.

Next to Me there, dying on the cross, were two common criminals. They were being punished, put to death, for the sins that they’d committed. One guy was hard and unrepentant. But the other was obviously sorry for what he’d done and acknowledged his guilt. He asked Me to forgive him and to remember him when I arrived in My kingdom, and I did. I forgave him right then and there, in spite of everything he’d done, and I took him with Me that day to Paradise.4

I was totally innocent of the things I’d been accused of, but I gave My life willingly—for his sins, and for yours. All you’ve got to do is believe Me, like that man did there on the cross. Ask Me to forgive you, and I will. It’s just that simple. Nothing you could have possibly done is so bad that it will keep Me from loving you and forgiving you, if you’ll just take it and believe.

Those you’ve hurt might not be able to forgive you in this life. Even your heart and mind will struggle with the concept of My mercy and forgiveness, telling you that you’re just too bad and that you don’t deserve to be forgiven. But whenever your heart condemns you with those thoughts, always remember this: I’m greater than your heart.5 I died for your sins. So just let them go. Let Me wash them all away and give you a new start today. I took the condemnation for your sins years ago and nailed it to the cross. Everything I went through—the suffering, the torture, the death on the cross—was for you personally, to free you from the weight of your sins. You’ve got to believe it and accept it. I forgive you.

+

My love is not for sale. My love cannot be bought or earned. There is only one way to possess My love, and that is to accept it as a gift. Nobody is good enough to deserve My forgiveness and be worthy of My love, but that is the beauty of this gift.6 The most wonderful thing about My love is that it is unconditional.

I don’t look at your past and judge you as man does. Instead, I look inside you, through you, and I see your deepest wishes and darkest fears. I see your sadness and I long to comfort you. I feel your loneliness and I long for you to turn to Me. I’m sitting beside you in the darkness and the emotional solitude and I want you to call Me your friend.

I know of your desire to change and to be a better person, and I long to help you fulfill that wish, to give you the key to transformation. I look at your remorse for your sins of the past, and I long to set you free from condemnation so that you can begin to live again. I look at your spirit and I see not the bad that you’ve done, but the good that you are capable of doing.

When you cannot find true friendship, acceptance and love around you, look to Me. You will find My arms open to you, offering forgiveness and unwavering love. All you need to do is reach out and accept it.

Originally published 2006. Updated and republished July 2012.
Read by Bethany Kelly. Music by Daniel Sozzi.


1 “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

2 “The common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37).

3 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:12–13).

4 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:39–43).

5 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things (1 John 3:20).

6 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).