We walk about each day in our mundane lives not giving a second thought to others around us. We go about our work so we can make it to that pinnacle, for some that is as simple as making it to the weekend for others they look toward money and status. But there are a lot of people who get up each morning with something inside festering. It is gnawing at them, eating away at their joy and taking away any chance at completeness. Most of the time as humans we can pinpoint the cause of that anger, and it usually is another person. For whatever the reason we have decided that it is in our best interest to not allow ourselves to forgive that person. We have made a conscious decision to carry that inside of us, making the determination that they do not deserve forgiveness and we are not bound to give it. I am reminded of a sermon that Craig Groeschel gave once where he equated that to holding a handful of broken glass, squeezing that glass in a fit of rage. The glass remains, it has no problem doing what broken glass does, when we open our hand, blood flows from the wounds created by the glass. That is just like us, the unforgiveness and grudges we harbor are more damaging to us than we can imagine. I have known several people through the years that have had to live with the fact that a loved one went to their grave not having been freed by our forgiveness. Because you see, forgiveness also frees the troubled soul of another. One has a hard time being truly repentant without receiving true forgiveness. But if they are truly repentent then we should forgive....
Daniel 9:9. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him
God owns forgiveness, he created it, he expect us to live a life full of forgiveness, we are made to forgive, it is in our unwillingness to forgive that we rebell against him.
Luke 17:3-4 says, Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, “I repent”, you must forgive him.
It is clear, even after a battle or a conflict if we are asked to forgive, we must, and boy do I know that is easier said than done, our sinful nature pulls at us and tells us, "Wait a minute, that person wronged you, they deserve no solice, they need to live with the knowledge that you will never forgive them." But that is the voice of Satan trying to make us harbor a feeling that will only fester and cause us even more pain.
Our pride gets in the way and wells up and makes us think that we deserve to punish, ....but do we? Can we expect to be a person who should be forgiven if we are a person who refuses to forgive? I think not.
The perfect example of forgiveness comes from a perfect man, Jesus. Imagine being falsely accused of a capital crime. Being dragged and beaten then stood before your own people and being sentenced to death. At that point being beaten some more, mocked and forced to carry your own death apparatus down the road to a lonely spot where others have died before you. The sentence is carried out, bloodied and beaten, Jesus summoned up the strength to say out loud "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." All of this is a pure lesson in the greatest forgiveness a man could ever give. At that very point he was not only bleeding and dying an earthly death, he was carrying the weight of all the sin of mankind, every little lie, every murder, every dark corner sin that mankind will ever do, was weighted upon him, ....but yet he stayed the course, at that very moment he not only asked for the forgiveness of his killers, but he also became the intercessor for our sins, an avenue through which we can go to God and ask forgiveness for our sins and our transgressions. Jesus was so much for us, and his example of true unwavering heartfelt forgiveness should be an example for all of us. The next time you feel outraged at someone for what they have done to you, remember we are not in this alone, God, the very owner, creator and arbiter of forgiveness is standing right there with us. So today if there is someone that needs forgiveness, give it, if there is someone that you need to apologize to so you can receive forgiveness do it. The healing nature of forgiveness can not be measured. And the strength to give it or ask for it, is given to us by our Father in heaven. As a Christian we do not walk that path alone.
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