Forgiveness
Forgiveness Is Not Natural
Forgiveness, that is a word every Christian understands. Right? After all, our salvation depends upon it. You know the story.
In Genesis, God created the most awesome universe that could be created. He added planets, stars, moons, asteroids, blackholes, dark matter, and that was amazing. Then he added life to one of the rocks spinning in space at an incredible speed. He created the fish and everything in the sea, he created the birds that fly in the air, and he created every animal that walks, crawls or slithers on and in the ground. Then, he created man and after that he created woman. They were named Adam and Eve.
He loved His creation. He would come and walk in the cool of the evening with Adam. It must have been such a wonderful experience to walk with God, and for Adam and Eve that was just something that happened . They never knew any other life. They had nothing with which to compare the experience. They couldn’t have understood what it would be like not to be able to walk with God. If they truly understood what they had, Satan’s words would not have swayed them as they did.
We live in an immoral world where evil happens around us throughout the day. We, as Christians, know this fallen world is not our home. We know one day we will be able to praise our risen King in person. We look forward to the time when our tears will be wiped away and joy like we could never imagine fills every nook and cranny of our now battered spirits. What a glorious day that will be.
Adam and Eve on the other hand went from walking with God in a world of tranquility to a world filled with sin. They were innocent, but with one act of disobedience made in an attempt to be equal to God, they blew it! That act had an incredible impact on them, and on the world to come. They were evicted to a world that was hostile to them. The greatest pain they probably suffered though was the knowledge that God had turned them away.
Yet, God had pity on them. He could not let them return to Eden, because they would have corrupted it. Still, he did clothe them with animal skins, and he watched them and the generations to come. Finally, he offered their descendants an opportunity to be forgiven.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”, John 3:16-17.
God supplied us with an eternal life line. God so loved the world. He loves us, and he is giving us a get out of jail free card. The magnitude of how amazing this is can not be overstated. He could treat the universe like a giant Etch-o-sketch. Wipe everything out, and simply say let’s do this again. He has the power to do just that, but instead he sent his one and only son to die on a cross for us. Why? So, we could be forgiven.
God’s gift of forgiveness is amazing, awesome, stupendous, colossal, and every other adjective that still falls short of describing it, but for the purpose of this web site we are approaching the topic of forgiveness on a different level. We are here to address what our responsibilities are as Christians in the area of forgiveness.
Forgiving Others
Forgiving others can be tough. It’s just not natural. We are a people who want to strike back. You hurt me, and I will hurt you back. You take something from me, and I will take something from you. You say something that hurts my feelings, and I will never ever speak to you again.
If you doubt that is our natural response, then just check with Hollywood. They make a lot of revenge movies, and they sell a lot of tickets to people who want to see it. People seem to rush to see someone suffer, because after they see that then the hero, who may or may not be a good person, will come in and take revenge. The worse the attack on the victim the better, because then the revenge will be all the worse.
What is really sad is when we carry the revenge mentality into our personal lives. This mentality can cause rifts in families, friendships to break up, co-workers to avoid each other, and churches to split. One of the saddest things in my mind is when a true Christian church breaks apart. Do you think God failed the church, or did the people fail God? We as Christians need to learn how to forgive.
The Bible contains one of the most dangerous things that we can repeat if we are not careful. If we look at Matthew 6:5 - 15, we find the story where Jesus teaches those listening how to prayer. There we find the Lord’s Prayer. It is a most wonderful message on how we should pray to God, and many Christian’s can recite this by heart. Yet, in the midst of the prayer is the line where we tell God that we want to be forgiven the same way we forgive others. Many people fly past that second part, but Jesus wanted that in there. God, forgive us our sins, debts, trespasses in the same way we forgive others who have sinned, owed, or trespassed in our lives.
If we really let that sink in, that is a pretty scary statement. We are saying, “Dear God who created the universe and holds my life in your hands. The God who holds my eternal destiny through your rightful place of judgement. I am asking you to base your decision of judgement upon me by the standard for which I have forgiven others.” That is what we are saying. It can be easy to let that line slip past us, but we shouldn’t. That, my brothers and sisters, is HUGE.
In the church that I attend, each week we recite the Lord’s Prayer. First, we discuss our joys, then we let the pastor know our prayer concerns, then he takes those concerns and lifts them up to the Lord in prayer, and we finish off by reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Has it become stale in the service? Yes, and no.
Please note, the Lord’s prayer is not like some magical incantation. The Lord’s Prayer is a love letter to our Father. It is a message of worship and admiration. By saying please forgive us as we forgive others, we are telling God to hold us to a higher Holy standard. We are saying, “God, put me to the test”. Unfortunately, most of us do not think that way when we recite the message. When we recite the Lord’s prayer, we are approaching the very throne of our living God, and we are laying this prayer at His feet.
I mentioned earlier that we can recite the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday, and it can become a habit. My own experience was that I had unforgiveness in my heart. Yet, I would recite the prayer weekly. I had even memorized it through repetition. Then one day the line about forgiveness convicted me. I realized that I claimed to be a God fearing man, and yet I didn’t really listen to what I was saying. I realized that I claimed to believe God was listening to me, and yet I had this stain in my life. I will not tell you to whom it was directed, because that is not important. I will tell you that I let it go. I even went to the person to ask her for forgiveness for the way I treated her. Without any hesitation she forgave me. I know it can be very hard to forgive sometimes, but I was reminded of what I was asking the Lord to do for me.
C.S. Lewis said, “To be a Christian is to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” I am grateful the Lord has forgiven my sins, because I am not sure that I would have if I were in his position. I have done things that I have regretted, including things that would have insulted God. I remember that I knew a couple of people that shared jokes about our Lord Jesus. Instead of being taken aback, I happily repeated them. Now, I wish I could take those words back. My mockery of our royal King was no more innocent than those that mocked him as he carried his cross up the hill.
In Luke 6:37 we read that if we forgive, we will be forgiven. That is another way to look at the line in the Lord’s prayer. We are saying, “Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us”, and the Lord is saying, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven”. What a beautiful balance of forgiveness.
Shortly after that we read in Luke 6:40 that a disciple is no greater than his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. Let this sink in for a minute. Our teacher came to this world to die on a cross to give us an opportunity for salvation. He hung on the cross bleeding, spikes in his hands and feet, being mocked, his robe had been removed, and he was dying. Yet, he prayed to the Father, “Forgive them, fore they know not what they do.” That is true forgiveness, and he said that anyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. How can we not forgive others? It is not so much a duty, but an honor.
You may say, “But that is too high of a standard for me to attain. God will understand, and he will forgive my unforgiveness”.
Yes, He will, but please note that you are now part of a royal lineage. Thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross you now belong to the Lord’s family. You are servants to the most high King. You are now held to a higher standard, because you have been blessed with forgiveness and washed in His blood. He is worthy of the extra effort that it may take.
A Special Forgiveness Note
There is a difference between forgiveness and forgetting. In the Bible it mentions that God forgets our sins. Still, can an all knowing God not know something? He can choose not to remember, but that is a little different.
An analogy that I have used more often than I should is this. One morning you step outside of your house. You see your neighbor’s dog on the other side of the fence. So, you walk over to it, you talk happily to the dog, you reach over the fence to pet him, and snap. He bites you. You pull your hand back. It hurts physically, and it hurts emotionally.
Now, as time passes you forgive the dog for biting you. After all, he is a dog, and you were reaching into his territory to pet him. You have forgiven him, but will you reach over the fence again to pet him? No, because you do not want to be bitten again.
Likewise, when we forgive people for doing terrible things, that does not mean you forget the things that were done. It doesn’t mean you put yourself in the position to be hurt again. Forgiving does not mean you put yourself in danger. A battered woman can forgive her husband, but it doesn’t mean she puts herself in arms reach again. Do not let anyone pressure you into a dangerous situation by saying to you, “But you said you forgave me”.
I just don’t want anyone to put themselves or their families at risk. Now, let us move on to Forgiveness Part 2.
Seeking Forgiveness
Forgiving people is tough. Seeking forgiveness from others is easier. Right? Well, it depends on how you do it. Have you ever seen a child that had just learned to start saying they were sorry when they have done something wrong? The time comes when they do something really bad, and when they are caught they say they are sorry. Yet, the parents can tell the child is not really sorry, or it is something so bad that simply saying they are sorry is not enough. The child gets sent to the corner, and as they walk away they say, “I said I was sorry”.
In Matthew 5:21 - 26, Jesus covers this topic in a big way. This section in the Bible is marked Murder. Here is how it appears in the New International Version: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Let us unwrap that. The first thing to note is this was Jesus talking. He was not just talking. He was teaching. He was telling those who were listening that this is the reality of things. As Christians, we need to take him at his word. Now, he is comparing someone being angry with his brother to murder. You will be subject to judgement for being angry. Once again, Christians should hold themselves to a higher standard, because God has set a higher standard for us. We are His people. We are His diplomats in a fallen land. People are watching.
He also says before you give your gifts to the Lord to reconcile with your brothers that may have something against you. During that time, the Jewish people had an expectation to give ten percent of what they received to the Lord. It was an honor of worship to bring your tithe to the temple. Jesus is telling them to hold onto it. Your offering is basically not wanted yet. You first must clean up your heart. Your gift is tarnished by this situation.
It will be the rare case when you hear a preacher say, “You should not give your offering today”, but in this situation that is exactly what Jesus is saying. I want you to really think about this. God is deserving of worship from us. Giving is an act of worship. Our purpose in life is to bring glory to the great I AM, and worship is a large part of how we do this. We should be overjoyed that He even wants our worship. Yet, our worship through giving is tarnished if reconciliation has not been done. It is like giving God a stained shirt.
Take note though, it doesn’t say take your offering and go spend it on yourself. It says leave your gift there in front of the altar. You can set your offering aside, but it is still part of your tithe. Like a dirty shirt you will need to clean it before giving it in honor to the Lord as a respectful gift. In this situation, the cleaning is done through reconciliation. That will wash the stain out, and then the gift will be fit for worship.
Then to drive the point home, Jesus talks about two men headed to court to see the judge. I want you to understand that every single last one of us is on his way to see The Judge. The time will come when we all have to account for what we have done. Granted that our sins are washed through the blood of Jesus, and that guarantees our salvation. We are found innocent, but that innocence comes at a very large expense.
Jesus says to get whatever problems you have with the other person settled before you get to the judge. Take care of it. Otherwise, it may turn out badly for you when you do get to the judge. You may get thrown in prison until every last penny has been paid back. What does that look like? I do not know, but I do not want to find out. Plus, I think The Judge has more than enough to do without me adding on to it.
When I was around seven or eight years old, my parents gave me a transistor radio. Many of you may not know what that is, but it was an AM/FM radio that was about the size of two decks of cards tied together. They had antennas that would pull out to a length of around a foot, and you could carry your radio with you. Growing up in Wyoming we found that if you touched the antenna to a barbed wire fence you could pick up even more stations. This was a really cool thing for a kid my age to have had.
Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah. My brother made me mad one day. I cannot remember what he did, but it must have been one of those sibling things. I was really mad, and I was going to get even. So I snuck behind a chair we had in our living room, and I popped the back off of my little transistor radio. My plan was to break the radio and blame my brother Mike for breaking it. You are probably already seeing the folly in this plan. I reached in, and I yanked one of the wires until it came loose. I turned on the radio, and it was dead. I put the pieces back in place, and I went into the next room where everyone was sitting. I told my parents that Mike broke my radio. They asked Mike if he had broken it. Of course, he denied it. Then they asked me if Mike really broke it.
You know how you watch James Bond movies, and he is always ready with an answer. At this moment, I discovered that I would not be a good James Bond, because I told them that I had broken it. I explained how I was mad at Mike, but in the end he did not get in trouble. Plus, I had a broken radio. Things were reconciled pretty fast, because he laughed at me for my not so intelligent plan.
Why do I mention this? That seems like a silly thing to have done, but in the heat of anger we can do things that are even more destructive to ourselves and to others. We want revenge, and we can drive a wedge between us and other people. Those wedges stain our worshipful giving to the Lord.
We need to seek those who have grievances against us, and make amends. If you do it for no other reason, do it as part of your worship to God. Jesus has not suggested that to us, but told us that is what we need to do. If you want to honor God with your worship, then you have to once again hold yourself to a higher standard.
Do not just go to someone and say, “I am sorry”. Can you imagine the look on someone’s face if you walked up to them, and said, “Look, I have made a mistake, and I am sorry about what I did. I know it has caused a divide between us. Is there anything I can do to possibly help make it up to you?” Say it like you mean it, because that is what it will take for you to begin to heal the scar.
Why Seek Forgiveness from Others When God Forgives Us?
We know God forgives our sins, because of the sacrifice given by Jesus on the cross. I do not want to take away from that. Still, forgiving and seeking forgiveness were commands of Jesus. He didn’t say, “Treat people however you want. I am going to take care of everything for you.” No, he came, and he taught us how we are to live. Jesus lived his life in a way that we should want to mirror. He was the epitome of a forgiving heart. Remember, he said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” He was forgiving those people who were killing him.
Can you imagine what the world would start thinking about Christians if we were to start seeking forgiveness? Letting people know that we too make mistakes, but we are Christians. As Christians, we want to do what we can to mend bridges. The impact to the world would be enormous.
If you have forgiveness that you need to give or to seek, do it. Do it for Jesus, and you will see how it will be like an artesian well of joy in your heart. A forgiving heart is one with less stress. A person without anger lives a happier life. With that you will impact those around you for the better.
- Layman Ray
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