Forgiveness

Forgiveness...a wonderful quality of God that can be so hard for humans to possess.

All of us have been wronged by other people. When such pain and anger is caused, it can be rather sickening to even think about forgiving the person who hurt us. But we must.

It says in God's Word to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32). Forgiveness is not saying that the horrible actions someone did toward us were right. Forgiveness is showing our obedience and love for God and our love for others; and if we don't love others, then we don't really love God. (See 1 John 4:20.)

Forgiveness is not one of those "it takes two to tango" deals. There have been some occasions where people have wronged me and they never came to me and said, "I'm sorry." But I forgave them anyway because I knew that's what God wanted me to do.

Forgiveness is not just a one time thing, either. The disciple Peter once came to Jesus and asked Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?" Jesus answered him saying, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:21-22) Seventy times seven is a lot of times (490 to be exact) but when Jesus said, "Until seventy times seven," he didn't mean to stop forgiving after that number. When Jesus told Peter, "Until seventy times seven," he meant for him to forgive his brother (or anyone) however many times they needed to be forgiven. We then should do likewise.

Forgiveness is required of us if we are to be forgiven by God. In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus said, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Forgiveness is not having amnesia and totally forgetting about the wrong that was done to you. The saying "forgive and forget" is not in the Bible. But when you forgive, you don't dwell on the past wrongs...you don't "dig them up again."

Finally forgiveness is not human. As I said before, it's of God, and when your forgive, you're trusting in Him to take care of you and work things out. When you do forgive, though, it sets you free...makes you feel clean...makes you feel new. It can be hard for us to forgive and it can take time for it to truly replace the pain and anger. But thank God that we don't have to forgive by ourselves. The Lord will help us, by His Holy Spirit, if we only ask Him to. And with His help, forgiveness will come to pass.

One thing that makes it easier for me to forgive others is thinking about how God forgave us. God is so good to us, so loving to us, yet everyday we sin against Him. We break His heart on a regular basis...sometimes by mistake...sometimes on purpose (knowing what's right but still doing what's wrong). But thanks be unto God, He still loves us, He still blesses us, and He still forgives us everytime we ask Him to. (See 1 John 1:9.) If He can forgive us sinners after the pain we've caused Him, if He wants us to forgive others, and if He wants to help us forgive them, then by all means I want to forgive others and please God. Don't you?

Prayer: Dear Father God, I'm sorry for all of the pain I've caused You. I'm sorry for not forgiving others. Please forgive me. Thank You. Lord, I don't understand how, but right now I forgive the ones who've wronged me. Help me by Thy Spirit to let them stay forgiven. Help me to love others. I love You. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.