Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a topic that I have been meaning to write about far a long time now. I am slow to forgive people. In the past it has been a defense mechanism I used to protect myself. This was back in the day when I thought I was in control and I was trying to be a self made person. I used to think if I would shun those that hurt or did me wrong I wouldn’t have to deal with the hurt. Now I have been forgiven by my Lord for all of my transgressions. If the Lord can forgive me for the crap I have done I can forgive others for things they might have done. Not to mention it’s a command from God. There is no telling how many wonderful people I might have hurt myself or missed a chance to get to know because I was unable to love and forgive them. Lets see what the bible has to say about this.
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[f]
23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
30“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
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Thanks for writing about this.
I think one has to place themself in another’s shoes when evaluating this. People make mistakes and this is part of the learning process. We live in an imperfect world and God made it that way from the beginning. So if one makes a mistake and realizes that it was indeed a mistake AND they learn from it, then forgiveness is a bit easier to grant. However, when someone does not learn from the mistake and has no remorse, that is when the challenge begins. We should still forgive this person for what they have done, but we are also obligated to try to help that person understand why what they did was not right. Albeit painful, forgiving is the right thing to do. For as you said, if we do not forgive for mistakes, if we do not learn from mistakes of our own and others’, then opportunities are lost. These opportunities can never be regained, time can never be replaced. Just think back to a time when you have made a mistake with a loved one….a family member or a friend, maybe someone you didn’t even know. How would those lives be different if a “better” path had been followed? I think no one could argue that it wouldn’t be better for everyone involved. The amount of forgiveness we have should be infinite…May God bless us all with his grace.
Good to hear from you Bro!