Yesterday Rev. Tim Callow (Newberry United Methodist Church) talked about forgiveness as just one means of “clothing ourselves with Christ’s qualities.” In fact, the Epistle lesson for the day came from Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV), in which the Apostle Paul wrote in verse 13, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievance you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
As I think about forgiving those who have wronged or slighted or otherwise defamed me, I think about a recent marketing sensation that focused on the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Paul’s last sentence in the verse references exactly what Jesus would do, he would forgive the offending party.
After all, Jesus came to this earth to bear the sins of all who believe in Him as explained by the unknown writer of Hebrews, chapter nine, verses 27 and 28 (NIV) [emphasis mine] “27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
So, if God can forgive all our sins, and believe me, we have tons of them whether we want to admit it or not, the least we can do is try to forgive our fellow human beings, right?
I hope you’re asking now, just what does true forgiveness entail?
According to Nelson’s Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, forgiveness is ‘the act of excusing or pardoning another in spite of his slights, shortcomings, and errors. As a theological term forgiveness refers to God’s pardon of the sins of human beings.’
The dictionary text on forgiveness concludes by explaining that because God forgives us, he demands that we forgive others. Drawing on references from the Gospel of Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV) and Mark 11:25 (NIV), the writer surmises, “A forgiving spirit shows that one is a true follower of Christ.”
Basically, if we truly want to forgive, we must abandon any thought of getting even. We must put our ire in God’s hands through prayer, and let Him take care of the situation for us.
Even though it’s next to impossible to forget, forgiveness is required. We all know that trying to forget is a waste of time. Besides, when you continue to try to forget, it seems to me that the forgiving gets abandoned in the less-than-comfortable memories of the problem.
According to one commentary I read, forgiving takes time. The article suggests that we forgive over and over and over again, until we get it down pat. Makes sense to me, especially since there are a few folks that I need to forgive, and, after quite some time, years in some cases, I still find it hard to make the leap to full, unrestricted forgiveness.
Bottom line, if Jesus can die on the cross to save you and me from our sin, to essentially forgive us, we can certainly put on His mantle, making sure we forgive one another no matter how grievous the slight.
I forgive, or at least I actively try to forgive. Do you? Think about it.
Today my prayer for all of us is -
May God give you and I the strength to forgive and get on with our lives minus the negativity that holding grudges brings. Let us put aside the pettiness and indulge in the satisfaction of being a true follower of Jesus.
In His holy name we ask these things.
Amen.
Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."
