God and Abortion and Forgiveness

QUESTION: God and abortion and forgiveness - Is forgiveness possible?

ANSWER:

For many years, I thought, "God will never forgive me for the abortions."

When I was younger, I had three pregnancies terminated. Even though I wasn't very familiar with God at the time, I remember lying on the table, looking up, and asking God to forgive me. I didn't understand what I was doing. For some reason, I felt that abortion was wrong, but I also felt like I had no choice. For a number of years afterwards, I went through many emotional problems and had overwhelming thoughts of suicide. My days were dark, even though I thought that I had put the abortions behind me.

I was supposed to be free, but I wasn't!

I was stuck in my lonely world and no one knew of what I had done except one ex-boyfriend and my mother, who only knew of one of the abortions.

How could I tell anyone about this?

I felt like God couldn't forgive me, let alone love me.

There came a point in my life where I realized I was a sinner. I had displeased God. I learned that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins. God knew everything I had done and He still stood right by my side - wanting to forgive me, make me His child, and give me hope for living.

It took me a long time to understand that I was forgiven for these abortions. One day, I sat at home alone crying to God to forgive me for having the abortions, and in my heart I heard the Lord say to me, "I forgave you the day you asked." I felt the forgiveness of God in my heart at that moment.

It wasn't that God needed to forgive me over and over again. I needed to forgive myself. I had been holding on to my own unforgiveness. It has taken some time to learn to forgive myself, but I know the Lord has forgiven me and He forgives all those who ask. He forgave me before I even truly believed in Him because He made me and He loves me. He is the God of the broken and the weary, not the perfect and the pure.

I know now that there is nothing that can separate me from the love of Christ. Sins, including abortion, can be forgiven.

So now I can tell others about the abortions in my past because they aren't about how horrible I am, but about how great God's love is and how His mercy, grace, and forgiveness are unending.

Psalm 103:11-13 says, "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him."