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...
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