Wiseman say, "Forgiveness is divine..."

Forgiveness. Three syllables that take us a lifetime to master. One word that is so easy to say with our lips and tongue, but sometimes so hard to mean with our hearts. Take a moment and reflect - has anyone ever done anything to you or someone you love that you have not truly forgiven? Maybe you have said it with your mouth, but do you mean it in your heart? This entry is about just that - how to glorify God with forgiveness not only as an action, but as an ongoing attitude.

Let's face it, if you are a human (and if you are reading this, I assume you are), you will have somebody let you down. Someone will betray you, lie to you, treat you badly, or hurt you in any way possible. And chances are, you will be hurt multiple times by the same person. We are all sinners, and we will be the ones to let others down from time to time, as hard as we try not to, and we will need the forgiveness. But the point is not that we are all sinners. The point is that we are all forgiven, if we put our faith in Jesus Christ.

So how exactly are we to forgive the people who harm us, the people who do us wrong? Well, as the purpose of this entire blog is to figure out what it means to glorify God, so we will turn to the Word of the Living God for direction. We will turn to Ephesians 4:32 for just one piece of Scripture. It says, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."Let's just make this verse clear, so there is no two ways about it. The verse says, forgive one another, in the same way God has forgiven you, in Jesus Christ. How did Christ forgive us? Completely! He did not look down on us and say, "Well, Jeremy, I can forgive you if you lie 500 times, but if you lie 501 times, consider it unforgivable." No! He asked God the Father to forgive the sinners (completely) for they did not know what they were doing. I am pretty sure that more wrong was done to Jesus than will ever be done to any of us, no matter what happens to us. Beaten, betrayed, insulted, spit on, wrongly accused, and ultimately nailed to a cross, have you ever been there? Most likely not, and even if you had, you are a sinner, and Jesus was sinless, so Jesus still took more, and for no reason, other than to save us.

So, back to how to glorify God with this. Here is what I think. I think that some of us are stuck on the idea that forgiveness as just the word. Like saying the words, "I forgive you," will not make you actually forgive that person in your heart. Sure, the other person might feel a bit better once you have said it, but the heart of the matter is still the same. The heart of the matter is, do you really forgive that person?

In my opinion, and I think some people would disagree with this, but I think that forgiving is forgetting. Now, before you get all, "You can't forget when someone hurt you," on me, let me explain what I mean.  I don't mean that when you forgive someone, you become a naive person and just let that person hurt you again. I mean that when you forgive someone, yes you remember what they did, but it no longer matters because you have forgiven that act. So really, you are better off to just forget it all together. I know for a fact that when Jesus forgave all of our sins, He did not say, "I forgive you, but it doesn't change what you did." The fact is, in the sight of God, it does change what we did. We were (and still are) sinful creatures. However, when God views us through the lens of Jesus, we become white as snow. Jesus absorbed all of God's wrath, all of our sin, when He was nailed to the cross. He has forgiven us completely, removed our sins as far as the east is from the west.

So again, what does this mean? It means we forgive others as Jesus forgave us! That means always, in all things, for as many times as it happens to us. It is quite simple. Forgive. Forgive for the glory of God! How amazing does it feel when someone forgives us? It feels awesome, because we have been absolved of that crime in their lives. This is also a great witness. If we can forgive those who constantly hurt us, and the reason is Jesus, they will see that, and they might just respond. If even one were to respond, it would be worth it. So please, forgive to the glory of God. If you need forgiveness, ask, and it shall be given to you. If you need to be the forgiver, remember that Jesus forgave you, even in your worst moment.

Forgive...To glorify God...

Love One Another

Lately, I have been reading through the book of Ephesians. The message is clear - put off your old self (which is evil) and put on the new self (which is Christ). For the sake of this blog, and indeed it is the truth, Christ is love. So really, put on love as your new self.

This is something that I have been struggling with lately. Loving everybody, just as Christ has loved me. That is to say, I need to love everybody unconditionally, just as he loved me, even while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8). What does it mean to love everybody as Christ loves us? Well, if that isn't a huge question, I don't know what is.

The fact is, every single person you will come into contact with today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your life, has a soul. Those people you run into are a creation by the Creator. The person who cut you off, the person who said hurtful things behind your back, the person who just cheated on you, the person who just made you angry for the thousandth time this week and you just want to punch that person in the face - these people all have souls. These are God's children - even if they are still sinners who have not yet been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.

So, why do I find it so hard to love these people, even if I know that God still loves them, even if they have just committed a huge sin against a Holy God? Let's be honest here, some of you are thinking, as I once did, "How can God still love those people who just murdered a family, or is a child molester, or who keeps getting on my nerves so much that I have thought of murdering someone myself?"

That's the beauty of it. God loved us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS. He is not a God that takes a look at my past, present, or future and says, "Well, this guy does some really bad stuff, so I guess I won't love him."He loved me before I was saved, and He loves me still.

Anyways, I digress. Back to the question of "Why do I find it so hard to love the unlovable?" As humans, we can't even love the people who deserve to be loved (Jesus), let alone love those who are against us. Jesus came to save us, and we spat in His face, whipped him till He was a bloody mess, nailed Him to a cross, and let Him die with sinners. We couldn't even love the one that loves us the most. How can we expect that we will love those who hate us?

This is why we look to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith. I, as a filthy sinner, cannot ever hope to love the unlovable. Not by my own power. However, when we look to Jesus as more than the one who saved us, but rather as the one who is still saving us (oh yes, He is still saving us), we will see that we must strive to attain that level of perfection, rather than just our lowly level of sinfulness. I have said before that we will never be perfect, and we will always fall short of Christ. That remains true. However, if we never reach for that level, we will never even become more like Jesus.

To love the unlovable is to forsake the old self, the way of the world. This world wants us to serve ourselves. This world wants me to look out for me, and let others worry about themselves. Jesus says the opposite. Ephesians 5:1-2 says "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

So, as we strive ever forward to become imitators of Christ, let us love as Christ loved us - while we were still sinners.

Love one another, to glorify God...