Forgiveness to Others

Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15 But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.”

That’s pretty heavy stuff. I just got back from a breakfast meeting with one of my really good friends. He is having a hard time forgiving some of his close friends and he is thinking about giving up. It’s a hard situation, but then we have to talk about the importance of forgiveness. Or is it important? This passage above makes forgiveness seem pretty important and even crucial. I think we often complain and think that forgiveness is beyond us or it is too hard. I think we need to put our thoughts into perspective.

Jesus had to die for the sins of His people. These people weren’t just okay or not that bad, these people were called his enemies. They declared war against God at birth, destined to lose; they fought and fought against the Creator of the world for a glimpse of pleasure. I wonder if the angels tried to talk Him out of it. Maybe they said, “Jesus, You have us! We worship You day and night without ceasing! Why would You save those who spit in Your face, and even those who say they love You use Your name in vain.” It made sense. But there was a plan for God to show His glory in our redemption.

All of this to say, if Jesus could die for those who crucified Him, we should be able to forgive those who mock or call us names.

I’m not going to lie, it’s still really hard, but I’m glad Jesus had the strength to forgive our sins, or else we would be in hell now and forever. The truth is we cannot forgive those who do wrong to us. It is impossible for us to do anything good because of the strength of our flesh. However, God saved us from our flesh… So what are we exactly waiting for?

This is just another example of humans still living in something they have been freed from. It’s like a prisoner that has been set free, but he lives in his cell because it is the only place he has ever known. There is some sort of comfort in living in sin; it’s what we have always known. We were born in sin and it takes faith to step into the unknown, which is Holiness. Christ has paid the price and forgiven us so that we may take that step into the unknown.

Being like Christ includes being less like ourselves, so forgiven and forget –Forsake All