Forgiveness

Hello again!  Over the past week the notion and mention of forgiveness has shown up over and over again at random times during work, church, and even my devotional from yesterday.  I am feeling as though God wants me to touch on this topic with y'all.  

Forgiveness, in and of itself, sounds like a very simple concept, until it comes time for you to give it.  When we wrong God through our sins and struggles, it has become second nature for us to accept the forgiveness that He so freely gives because that is a part of our faith, our relationship with Him, and the redemptive power that relationship brings.  However, when someone wrongs us, we seem to so quickly forget the lessons God has taught us on forgiveness.  If we have been hurt by someone, this idea that seems so simple, suddenly becomes much more complex in our heads.  "How can we forgive them? They don't deserve forgiveness after what they did!"  Ever had thoughts like this run through your head?  The truth to the matter is we forgive because it is what we have been called to do.  In Matthew 6:14, it is clearly laid out that, "if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you."   

If we truly examine forgiveness, it really is quite a radical concept.  God gave the utmost example of love and forgiveness by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins; we did not deserve this love, and definitely not this forgiveness for all of the sins we have done, and will continue to commit, but He forgave us anyway.  This unmerited forgiveness that we receive from God on a daily basis is truly an act of grace and mercy that we need to reflect in our own lives.  We may not feel that people deserve our forgiveness, but if God based His forgiveness on whether or not He thought we deserved it, I can guarantee Hell, rather than eternal life, is what we'd have to look forward to.  If we can change our perspective on forgiveness to one that more accurately portrays the forgiveness that God calls us to give, I feel that both giving and receiving forgiveness from others will become engrained in who we are as Christians, and also grant us the forgiveness from God that He promises us.  

Verses:
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
~Mark 11:24-25

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatestdeclares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
~Jeremiah 31:34

I will leave you with this parable from Matthew 18:21-35 to think about.  


Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. ²⁵ Since 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 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The 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 silver coins. 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 it back.’
³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged 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. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed 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 or sister from your heart.”


I pray it helps you to understand and begin to change your perspective on this radical act of love that forgiveness was created to be.  Much love and God bless!