Restored Innocence By Elizondo: Chapter Analysis

Even though people may hold onto the pain, forgiveness is possible through the love of Jesus. In reading the chapter Restored Innocence the author Elizondo explains in great detail how Jesus can make all the guilt, shame and past hurt of our life pave a way to start a new life of innocence through his forgiveness. In fact the chapter reveals how Jesus wants us to transform now from all this hurt rather than live with it until death. Additionally, Jesus wanted us to repent from the very beginning when we started feeling this shame and guilt. This repententance would pave the way to open our mind and hearts to accepting God. We as individuals tend to hold on to anger and pain. Jesus wants to teach the opposite of that, he wants us to forgive so that we could be free of the resentment and anger. Just as the chapter states “The experience of this forgiveness enables us to do what God alone can do: love ourselves and love others so much that we forgive those who have offended us and, even more so, accept forgiveness for the faults we have committed” (Elizondo, 74). …show more content…
It’s not always the fault of another who has inflicted the pain upon us. We have to take ownership and look within ourselves and be willing to admit when we have played a part. Just as it states in the chapter about God absorbing our filth so that we might be made clean. Also it is made as an example when the author describes the story of the prodigal son. The older brother having a sense of righteousness and, at times we don’t want to see this in ourselves, yet want to point it out in others. To transform completely through God’s grace we need to admit to our sin as Elizondo words it. As the quote states “The sinner in us is convinced that our sin is so great that not even God can forgive us, while the righteous in us does not even think that we need God’s forgiveness” (Elizondo,