The Unforgivable Sin!

The Unforgivable Sin!Matthew 12:31-32 "Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”This verse was addressed on the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a Year podcast this morning. When I heard it, I thought it was a great reminder of what this verse is actually saying. I am pretty sure I have talked about this before, and yet when I looked this verse up, I could see that I hadn’t used it as the main verse of any other episodes.  I think it is so important that we understand what this verse means because it can be scary if we don’t.I say it can be scary if you don’t know because I was very scared when I first heard this verse.  When I heard there was something I, or someone I loved, could do that would not be forgiven, I was petrified.  What if I did it on accident?  What if I did it one time, would I truly never be forgiven?  Also, the verse says, Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, or blasphemy against the Spirit.  Well, I have three boys who, when they were younger, loved to say inappropriate things just to get a rise out of us.  They would say unkind things about God because they knew that would make me and their dad upset.  What if they spoke against the Holy Spirit in this way?  What if they said something unkind about the Holy Spirit, and then they were never forgiven?  I don’t know if you can understand why I was upset or if that just seems silly to you.  We are all different, and the way we view life, God, and religion is all different.  I tend to want to be a perfectionist when it comes to religion and my relationship with God.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that I always do the right thing.  How great would that be? What it means is that I strive to do things perfectly.  I want a step-by-step guide to do all things that have to do with God.  I am learning in Encounter Ministries, that is called having a performance mentality.  I am trying to earn my way into heaven.  I will do x, y, and z, and then I will get into heaven.  I know it doesn’t work this way, and yet it takes a while to get out of that mentality. When I hear about something that could keep me from spending eternity without God, I try to pay attention. So, hearing there was something we could do that wouldn’t be forgiven was hard for me to hear.I don’t think I really understood what this meant until a few years ago.  I was listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, and Father Mike explained what this verse was actually saying.  He explained it again today in the Catechism of the Catholic Church podcast.  CCC #1864 says, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.” The only sin God can’t forgive is the sin that we don’t allow Him to forgive. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is rejecting the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.  Father Mike says the good news is that God wants to, wills to, and can forgive all of our sins, but He can only do this if we allow Him to do this. God wants us to bring all of our sins to him and repent for them.  Why is it so hard for us to believe that God will forgive our sins?  Why do we struggle to believe this for ourselves, and yet we would be the first ones to tell someone else not to worry because God has forgiven them?  I think one of the biggest reasons is that we have the enemy, the liar, whispering in our ears ho