I think that forgiveness is one of the most monstrous problems in the lives of Christians, but also the most overlooked. It’s just so easy to justify a refusal of forgiveness.
I mean, come on.
- They literally HATE my family. NOT COOL!
- She’s just nice to me when she needs something from me.
- They broke my heart.
- He bold-face lied to me. Repeatedly.
- She lied ABOUT me.
- They’ve been saying things behind my back.
- He never gave me a chance.
And on and on. We only choose to dwell on the other party’s sin, or the things we see as sin in their lives.
It’s SUPER HARD to forgive. I should know. I usually see the best in people, so when they’ve wronged me, it’s easy for me to think, “Good grief. I’ve already given them so much more than they deserve. I have a right to be bitter towards them.”
Also, it takes a lot for me to cry . . . so if someone makes me cry?? OH MAN!! It is O-V-E-R!
Or maybe you DO get around to forgiving them . . . but then they do something else that requires even more forgiveness. “No, honey . . .this isn’t a BOGO!!!”
– forgiveness is INSANE –
The King of the Universe came to the world to love His people.
God had given them everything; forgiven them over and over. He saved them from Egypt, gave them the Promised Land, repeatedly saved them from their enemies and forgave them for worshiping other gods in gross ways.
Then He sent them His own Son. This Son healed people, accepted everyone regardless of race or social status, and was willing to give anyone the greatest gift they could receive.
He did something all of us would NEVER want to do. He died on a bloody cross. He had nails hammered into Him . . . for YOU! For me. For the people at the foot of the cross, yelling obscenities and throwing things at Him.
Imagine the tears running down His face. Imagine the pain tearing through His body. Imagine the desire to just come off the cross and give those people a what for.
But what did He do?
He turned His head towards the Heavens and used the breath He’d struggled to take to say: “Father, forgive them: they know not what they’re doing.”
– the sass is strong –
Dude, if I had been in Christ’s shoes? With the power He had? Those people would’ve had another thing coming to them.
When I’m working at Chick-fil-A, people can be really ridiculous. Sometimes they do rude, thoughtless things and I have to grit my teeth whilst saying perkily, “My pleasure!” Let alone asking God to stay His hand against people torturing me?!
– you’ve heard it before –
Ever since we were little, we answered this question, pigtails bobbing and eyes wide-eyed and innocent:
why should we forgive?
Because Christ forgave us!
But it’s true! Just think about how many stupid things you’ve done. How many times you’ve had terrible thoughts about another person; how many times you’ve given into the flesh; how many times you’ve complained about a situation or been ungrateful despite having SO MUCH.
And yet God forgives us over and over again.
If you really think about it and apply it to where you are it changes your perspective totally and completely.
– it’s commanded –
Colossians 3:12-13 begins by proclaiming us holy and beloved, then goes on to list what we should be cultivating in our lives because of our status.
- compassionate hearts
- kindness
- humility
- meekness
- patience
- FORGIVING!!
Aw man…
It’s interesting to see how forgiveness goes hand in hand with all of the characteristics aforementioned.
If we have compassionate hearts, we’ll forgive. If kindness overflows out of our lives, we’ll forgive. If we are humble because we remember that we too have to be forgiven, we will forgive. If we are meek and see ourselves for who we are, we will forgive. If we are patient just as God is in our own lives, we will forgive.
Matthew 6:14 promises that God will forgive us if we forgive others. But if we refuse to? We can’t expect God to still forgive us. (Reminds me of the story about the guy that had his debt forgiven . . . but then he turned around and yelled at another guy for not paying his debt)
My mom brought up Matthew 18:21-22 the other day. We are to forgive HOW MANY TIMES?? (I guess forgiveness actually is a BOGO!)
And a closing thought . . . we must forgive even if they never ask for forgiveness. Because, I mean, those are the hardest people to forgive, right? And before God ever forgave us, we didn’t want to be forgiven.
