Forgiveness

Friday night I led our 20-30s Singles Bible study. For some reason I felt God leading me to teach about forgiveness. As I was preparing I noticed that God's forgiveness has always been a vital part of His relationship with His people. In the Old Testament it wasn't so much a person forgiving another person as it was God forgiving the Israelites - corporately or individually. There are exceptions of course: Joseph's brothers asking his forgiveness after realizing who he was; and Saul asking Samuel's forgiveness after Samuel caught him keeping some sheep from the Amalekites when Saul was supposed to wipe them from the face of the earth.

In the New Testament, forgiveness, for the most part, moves from a corporate to a personal experience. Jesus, we find, ushered in a personal relationship with God and with it personal forgiveness. We also find that Jesus expanded the concept of forgiveness from God-to-man to man-to-man. Jesus thought so much of forgiveness that He reminded us that unless we forgive each other God won't forgive us. If you think about it He can't. Unforgiveness puts us on the throne of our lives, not God. In Matthew 6:12-15 Jesus is in the middle of teaching the disciples what is now known as the Lord's Prayer when he says. . .

Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

He says, "forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." The tense is such that we ask God's forgiveness because we have forgiven others.

In Mark 11:24-25 He also says . . .

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 him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Again, Jesus emphasizes forgiveness of others so our Father in heaven will forgive us. The problem is that forgiving others seems to be one of those innate things deep down inside us that is so difficult for us to do. Why? Control - to forgive someone else means we release them and our feelings so that we don't hold it against them any longer. Pride. Emotions or feelings. Lack of understanding who we are in Christ. I'm sure there's some I haven't listed. These are usually mine. You may even have one or two that are just yours.

Dr. Howard Zehr (pioneer and internationally known lecturer, writer, and practitioner on the subject of restorative justice) reminds us of a couple of things about forgiveness.

• Forgiveness is a process, not an event
• Forgiveness is a decision not an emotion
• Forgiveness can't wait until you feel like it or you may never forgive
• Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting - remembering can help you so you don't find yourself in the same or similar situation again
• Forgiveness isn't letting people off the hook - there may be still consequences they may have to address
• Forgiveness can't be willed to happened
• Forgiveness doesn't mean you deny your hurt or pain
• Forgiveness is an acknowledgment of the intrinsic worth of the offender - they, too, have a God-given value

Jesus reminded us that it is not only important, but imperative for the believer. If that's so, then who do you need to forgive? A friend? A family member? A co-worker or boss? What about yourself? I have found that the valley can be a difficult place to forgive, but it's forgiveness while in the valley that moves us forward. Like eradicating yourself of boots caked with mud, the journey through the valley is made easier without the baggage of unforgiveness. It may be difficult. It may actually be the hardest thing you've ever had to do. Just remember, your relationship with God depends on it.

Mike