Forgiveness – Easier Said Than Done
Recently, the concept of forgiveness has been heavily on my mind. It has been an overwhelming and all encompassing presence. I have been feeling it strongly for the past year or so but in the past month I would say, it has been more so than ever.
As a Christian, we are told that we are to forgive. OK, sounds easy on paper. But what about in practicality? How quickly are we to forgive, who do we forgive and how easy is it really?
People naturally LIKE to hold on to their grudges. It’s human nature that when we are hurt by someone, we put up our defenses in every aspect of ourselves towards that person, as to protect who we are. But is this Biblical? When we do this, are we really forgiving them?
The Bible tells us that we are to forgive “just as the Lord has forgiven you” (Colossians 3:13). I have had people point out that this particular verse, based on the context of the rest of the passage and letter, is speaking towards fellow Christians. One could make the argument that this does not apply towards non-believers. If this were the only verse on forgiveness in the Bible, then I could understand that point. However, since the Bible never contradicts itself, we must interpret verses like this in context with the rest of the Bible’s teaching on the same topic as well as the context of the verse in the one book.
Luke 6:27 (HCSB)
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Jesus speaking)
Matthew 6:14-15 (HCSB) - This is immediately after “the Lord’s prayer”
“For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.” (Jesus speaking)
In these verses, Jesus Himself is teaching on forgiveness. Who better to take a lesson on forgiveness from than Jesus?! Jesus does not say here that we are only to forgive Christians. Instead, He tells us to forgive others the same way that He forgave us. This goes directly against typical human nature!
Here are a few quotes on the concept of forgiveness that show how some influential people view the concept of forgiveness:
“In the Bible it says they asked Jesus how many times you should forgive, and he said 70 times 7. Well, I want you all to know that I’m keeping a chart.” – Hillary Clinton
“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.” – John F. Kennedy
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
What attitude do these 3 people have about forgiveness based on their quotes? The current Secretary of State has one of limited forgiveness accoring to this statement. A former President had the mentality of holding on to part of the grudge by “never forget(ing) their names”. Dr. King ties the ability to forgive with the ability to love.
None of these approaches are what the Bible teaches. Dr. King’s statement comes the closest to the general concept, but falls short of the fact that forgiveness is not tied to our own ability to love, but rather God’s ability to love and therefore forgive us and through His grace, giving us the example and ability to forgive.
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Forgiveness in man without God is impossible.
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Without Christ changing our hearts, our souls and our minds, we are unable to forgive like this because without the gift of forgiveness by the sheer grace of God, we are unable to even understand the concept of forgiveness.
So why has the concept of forgiveness been weighing on me so heavily? Why is it that I find myself tearing up while driving and listening to music about God’s grace for us? It really started when I started to contemplate writing my post “Enduring Tough Trials – The Unanswered Why” about a month ago. As you may or may not have read in my post, as a child, I was a victim of heinous crime that too many children are victim to.
Without Christ, I cannot by myself forgive what happened to me. Through Him, I can do anything, including forgive the person who wronged me so many years ago. While I still believe that he needs to face justice of the law of this world for his crimes, as a Christian, I have no other choice in me to forgive him. And to be honest, thanks to the grace of God, it really isn’t that hard to do!
When I talk to other people who have dealt with issues as heinous as this in their own lives, I ask them to keep this in mind… what if the person who did this to you has come to truly accept Christ? By the general nature of salvation, they (and you) are no longer the same person you were before Christ but rather a new person with new desires and a new heart.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (NLT)
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.
We all sin. To God, all sin is sin and there is no degrees of sin. Through Christ, it is as easy to forgive any sin, no matter how severe this world judges the sin to be. Trust in the Lord with your own forgiveness. Just as the “Lord’s prayer” says,
Matthew 6:12 (HCSB)
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
