Forgive
You must have heard it said that to err is human, but to forgive is divine; though it is not a scriptural verse, it paints a picture of the truth of the Bible.
Many have been abused sexually, verbally, physically and so many other ways; this kind of experiences have made people justify why they have decided not to forgive the source of their abuse. I have been there and so I understand what it feels like. It is much harder for many people to forgive, because the person that has offended is not remorseful and worst still he/she refuses to see they were wrong and refuse to apologise. As hard as it may seem, forgiving people is not an option, it is a command that we have to obey to even be able to call ourselves Christians! This might sound like an extreme statement, but let us consider some scriptures:
Luke 11:4
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ‘
Matthew 6:12
forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
One thing is clear from these scriptures – we receive forgiveness from the Lord as long as we forgive others of their sins against us. When we refuse to forgive others, we cannot receive the forgiveness of the Lord. Another scripture puts it this way:
Matthew 6:14 – 15
for if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you
But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
And who is a Christian when his/her sins are not forgiven? To approach God in prayer, we need to forgive others of their wrongs against us.
Mark 11:25
and when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Remember the story of the slave (Matthew 18: 23-35) who was forgiven much debt because he pleaded with his master, who later refused to forgive a fellow servant who owed him much less than he owed? In verse 32, his master said he was WICKED for not forgiving his fellow servant. Verse 34-35 reads:
And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed. So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.
We know that we ought to forgive others, but how many times is enough? The question we need to ask ourselves is how many times does God forgive us after we have committed, sometimes, the same sin over and over again? Peter asked the same question and Jesus said 490 times! I am pretty sure most of us would have lost count before we get to 490! I believe the message in Jesus’ answer is to forgive no matter how many times we have been sinned against.
Matthew 18:21-22 (Amplified Bible)
Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times? Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!
What does it mean to forgive? Simply put, to forgive is to let go of an offence/wrong done against us. It means to pardon, or excuse a wrong. Forgiveness has nothing to do with how we feel about the person because of the wrong they have done; forgiveness is a gift from us to the person that has sinned against us. The word itself: for-give combines two words, one of which points to giving. We usually give gifts to friends, co-workers, and family members for various celebrations; the truth is that the person we are giving gifts to do not always deserve it, but we give it anyways, because it is a gift. This is the same way God gave us his only begotten son, not because we deserved it. He gave his son while we were yet sinners because he loves us. That same love the father has shown to us is in us; it has been shed abroad in our hearts by his Spirit. So, there is nothing like I cannot forgive that person, I have tried but I just can’t! We are capable of forgiving sins, just like he forgave us. God will never ask us to do something that he has not given us the ability to do.
It appears that we cannot work with the Lord while holding anything against anyone. The scriptures also explain in 1 Peter 4:8: Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Do you know how love covers a multitude of sins? It forgives a multitude of sin, it does not go around telling everyone about the sin committed against it, and it does not speak evil of the one that as sinned against it; love forgives and lets go of the feeling of resentment, anger etc.
I am not by any means claiming that it is easy to forgive; it is so hard that some people would rather die than forgive some people the wrong they have done to them. The thing is this; there is no sin that was committed against you that Christ did not pay for on the cross for that person. As Christians we are “Christ Like”; if Christ did not only forgive the people that killed him but asked the father to forgive them too – what is that sin that we cannot forgive that person? We cannot afford not to forgive because we cannot afford not to be in right standing with God.
Remember that forgiveness is not earned, it is a gift.
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