Forgive As Forgiven
To have our sins be forgiven by the Holy Father who knows all, is to have mercy undeserved extended to the deepest, darkest places of our hearts and souls.
To live our limited lives thereafter hanging onto grudges and figments of debt that others owe us, is to miss the heart of the Father entirely.
Is it hard to forgive? Yes, it certainly may be. Especially when the cost can be your mental peace, emotional stability, physical safety and whole orientation of what life and the world is like. But choosing to forgive is obedience, and it all true obedience brings us closer to the Lord. Though being sinned against is an evil thing in this life, it may, by God’s grace, help us understand how the Lord suffers when we sin against Him and His holy commands.
Hear me — forgiveness does not require reconnection or reentry into a harmful situation, relationship, or dynamic. Forgiveness is between yourself and God, ultimately, and the rest you enter into in your heart when you choose to release and bless that person, bearing the cost like Jesus bore the cost on the cross. It requires letting go of vengeance, resisting bitterness, deleting resentment… it’s hard work, but it truly is a simple act of the will God has given you.
And where God leads, God provides… He will provide the restoration, grant the healing, imbue you with wisdom for the future, and give you grace and time to reorient to the small or significant disruption and damage that someone’s sin had cost you.
The truth is, we are all equal at the foot of the cross. The Father does not love any of us less or more. Yes, this means that - generally speaking - God has the same heart toward you as toward your enemy. Yes, David did pray against his enemies, and yes, God fights for His people. But God truly desires for all to be saved. It’s not weakness, it’s a deep, unrelenting love. And it’s humbling to consider, that no one has sinned against us greater than we have sinned against the Lord we love.
So, forgive someone today. Be reconciled in your heart. Share the good news of God’s forgiveness and how you are thus empowered to forgive, with someone who needs it today. Seek them out, the way the Father sought you out.
And pray. The Lord empowers us to do His will, and the act of forgiveness can be a divine intervention of grace for us as well. In an account recorded by Corrie Ten Boom, she met face to face with a former Nazi guard who had terrorized herself and her sister during their time in a concentration camp. He hadn’t recalled who she was, but she recalled him fully. After she had preached a message on forgiveness, the former guard had approached her and asked forgiveness for his former sins. Here, she was faced with a decision… Here is an excerpt from her writing.
“And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”
And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!””
As we await His return…
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