When I was thirteen, I rebelled and strayed away from God. I committed a lot of sins. One of them was to bring a daughter into the world, and another was to have an abortion. Now I am sorry, but it is too late.... I was really bad off and had plans to commit suicide, but my daughter gives me strength....

I have the desire to go to a church to hear a message from God. Do you think that He can still forgive me? What can I do? I feel lost in this world and have a big hole in my heart!

Dear Friend,

It is true that you sinned against God and against yourself. However, you are not alone. The Apostle Paul taught that every single one of us has sinned, and that all of us deserve eternal punishment.1 So nothing that you have done makes you any different from the rest of us.

There are only two categories of people. The members of the first group are those who are sinners. Those in the second group are also sinners, but they have been forgiven for their sins and consequently will no longer have to receive the eternal punishment that they deserve. Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment for all of us, but we must each be truly sorry and must ask God for the forgiveness that is available in the name of Jesus, His Son.

Many people believe that there is a third group of people. They believe that this group consists of the really bad sinners, and that God is irreversibly angry with them as a group. But this is not what the Bible teaches. James, who is the author of one of the letters in the New Testament of the Bible, wrote, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”2

So the answer is yes, God will still forgive you. More importantly, He not only can forgive you, but He is anxious to forgive you and to give you the help, strength, and wisdom that you need. And you will find that when you pray and follow the teachings of the Bible, you can prevent the consequences of sin in your future.

Your sins do have consequences here on earth. And it is true that some consequences are worse than others. When sin harms another person, there are consequences for that person as well as for the one that sinned. When additional people have to face the consequences of the sin, the sin seems greater. God forgives the sin, no matter how great, but He does not take away its natural consequences.

You will probably always mourn the life of the child that you aborted. That is a consequence of what you did. But once you have asked God to forgive you for that sin, you will no longer have to feel guilty. When God takes away your sin, it is all gone! You get to start over. Just make sure that you follow God’s laws and principles so that you can live with His peace in your heart instead of the emptiness that you have now.

We wish you the best,

Linda
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1 Ro 3:23; 6:23
2 Jas 2:10

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