Hebrews 10:10-18
And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God’, and since then has been waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.’ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds’,
he also adds,
‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The reason we can love and believe that we are lovable is because God’s love compelled Him to be with us in Christ. With the birth of Jesus, the plan that had been promised to God’s people became tangible…audible…visible…to people on earth.

Sometimes people perceive the relationship with God and with others through a narrow lens of human perception. In broken human relationships of any kind, there are words that must be spoken and actions that must be taken so that authentic connection can return. Thus, the words of forgiveness, “I am sorry”, seem to be short circuited if we don’t hear “I forgive you” from the one we have offended.

When we commit a wrong doing or fall short of God’s counsel of love and service, we may fool ourselves into thinking that there is something that we must or can do to reestablish connection with God.

We may wallow in a cognitive mire, trying to think our way out of the pain of our shortcomings. Trying to figure out the scope of God's forgiveness can make it increasingly impossible to embrace.

So we lean into our faith...because in faith we know that God has taken the initiative to assure our unbreakable relationship. His love, mercy and forgiveness embraces us!

Because of Christ the words "I forgive you" are spoken to our souls, even before our minds and tongues articulate "I am sorry". Because of our human limitations we can't possibly eliminate our need to repent...But because of Christ we are lifted up and out of the mire and eternally enfolded in the embrace of God's Love.