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By all means, don’t put it
off! Forgiving others any wrong they may have done is crucial to our
relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. It brings freedom and joy and peace
that nothing can offer. Do it!
Eternal Perspectives by Sally Bair
Forgiveness
I once had a friend who said
no one deserved more than two chances to right a wrong. How many times have we
said, or thought, “Once is enough. I won’t let you hurt me again.”
Our human nature finds it
hard to forgive. When we’re wronged, perhaps it diminishes our fragile ego or
we feel it puts us in a bad light with others. Worse, we may believe the
offense deserves revenge because we “don’t deserve such harsh treatment.”
Abuse and bullying, common in
our society, are hard to take unless love is involved. Stories abound of wives
who have been beaten but refuse to file charges against their spouses. Instead,
they keep returning, hopeful the abuse will stop. Parents continue to forgive
and accept their children in the midst of their disobedience, all for the sake
of love.
Of course, the greatest
example of love overcoming hatred, abuse and torture is Jesus. In His darkest
hour while hanging on a cross, He asked His Father, “Forgive them, for they do
not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how
often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy
times seven.’” (Matthew 18:22)
Then Jesus told them a
parable about a king who forgave a huge debt owed by a cruel manager. In turn,
the manager, now free of his debt, showed no mercy—became ruthless, in
fact—toward someone who owed him little.
The limits on forgiveness are
of our own making. When we refuse to forgive, we condemn ourselves by holding
onto past hurts and pain. Forgiveness may be difficult, but it frees us from
the countless ways we offend God, each other, and even His creation. We don’t
have to wait for an apology to forgive someone who offends us. And we must
never forget that the crux of the matter of forgiveness is this: “If you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But
if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15)
Lord, thank You for Your mercy and undeserving
forgiveness. Lead us to forgive all who have broken our hearts, made us bitter
or stolen our happiness. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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