“Abortion is terrible. It IS murder, and it stinks just as bad as lovelessness in any of its various forms. I hope that both mother and daughter realize the web of sin they’ve been caught in, and realize that people who are caught in sin - even the sin of murder - are the very reason that Jesus came and died, and His shed blood is enough to pay the just punishment for their sin. He loves them, He forgives them, and He restores them to a new life of innocence and love.”
I don’t see how they can forgive themselves after following through on it. It would seem to be an impossible task.
Only through the blood of Jesus can they forgive themselves. That’s the only way ANY of us can forgive ourselves.
God loved that baby who was killed, so much that He says that anybody who hurt that child deserves to die. And he says the same for every person He’s created, because He loves us all so much. Which is great when we’re the one being defended, but means that for every sin we’ve committed against somebody else we deserve to be condemned, deserve to die.
Women instinctively know that. A very high percentage of women who are incarcerated began their life of crime in response to an abortion. They believe they deserve to die, and if the society won’t kill them then they will indirectly punish/kill themselves. Coping mechanisms like promiscuity, drugs, prostitution, etc are also used to punish themselves, even though they may have no idea why they do it. I remember speaking with one gal on a forum, describing post-abortion syndrome. She was stunned, never realizing that what she had been through is a common response to the repressed guilt of an abortion. She had never realized she was reacting to the abortion.
God can’t just overlook wrongs that are done. He is just; the wrongs have to be avanged/paid for. But He desperately wanted us with Him in Heaven. So He Himself paid our death penalty.
Accepting forgiveness is not cheapening the child’s life as if it doesn’t matter that a precious child was needlessly killed. It matters DEARLY. It cost Jesus all His suffering on the cross. But He was willing to do that so that we could be cleared of any judgment against us. The death penalty has already been paid. And the least we can do for the Lord who paid that penalty on our behalf is to let Him see the joy that was set before Him that compelled Him to such sacrifice: the joy of seeing us forgiven and restored, a radiant Bride without spot or blemish. He bought this gorgeous pure-white wedding gown of righteousness at GREAT price because He loves us; the least we can do is wear it proudly and come to Him as the radiant forgiven bride that He has made us.
I hope I’m not mixing metaphors too much here, so everybody can understand. That abortion cost Jesus His life; it is not cheap. But the death penalty has been paid by Jesus; to act as if the penalty still hangs over our own head is to deny what Jesus did, which is the ultimate slap in His face.
It is hard to forgive yourself when the sin is so ugly, but Jesus’ gruesome death on our behalf is all the punishment that justice requires. We can be forgiven without diminishing the enormity of the sin or how sacred and beautiful our sin’s victim is.