He heals our sin and the sin of others too:

I received a very encouraging email from a friend recently. Her words still ring in my head, circling down into my heart, feeding my soul. She wrote:

"We may now and then think of how God cleanses us from sin-our own sin. Less often do we consider that He cleanses us from the sin of others. Awfully good that He does both, in addition to providing the remedies for our guilt and for our weakness. I am certain that at best I only faintly grasp how comprehensive His salvation offer is."

God does indeed cleanse us from all sin. And it blesses me and surprises me to think He cleanses us from the sin of others too. I read Genesis 50:20 today about Joseph and his brothers, how Joseph said they meant what they did with evil intent, but God meant it for good. Maybe that's how God cleanses us from the sin of others. Joseph was obviously sinned against. But, by God's grace, he chose to forgive. He'd been given so much of God's purpose and plan that he let go of the past pain in order to move forward. And he was set free from bitterness as he did that. God cleansed him from that darkness.

Isn't that how it is with us? I think we'd rather, sometimes, hold onto the sin folks have thrown our way, nursing it, coddling it. We forget that God wants to wash that away from us as well. If we hold on tightly to the words spoken over us, the acts done to us, forgetting that Jesus stands ready to take those words and acts upon Himself. But He can't take them if we smother them to ourselves.

Freedom comes, really comes, when Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Believe me, I have my own heap aplenty. And it comes when we give Him the sins others have committed against us. It's all a grand letting go, isn't it? But we must let go to have the freedom to move into the future joyfully.

Oswald Chambers said it best: "Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ. And go out into the irresistible future with Him."