Forgiveness

Conversation?

We live in an angry world. It’s a vengeful and unforgiving world. A world where people are constantly at war, if not with bombs, guns, knives, and clubs, with commerce, and if not with commerce, with slander, defamation, and character assassination. But one thing we are all certain of — is that it is the other guy’s fault. It must be their fault. After all, we are the injured party. So, we have a right to feel this way, to act this way, and even to retaliate.

This world leaves many wounded in big and small ways, but every wound, if left untreated, is another link in a chain that enslaves us. To make matters worse, or possibly better, this slavery is self-inflicted. The treatment is simple but costly. The treatment is forgiveness. The wound lights the fire, but unforgiveness forges the chain. The chain that ultimately binds us and not our enemies. Thankfully, Jesus teaches us how to break the chains of our own unforgiveness.

The Lord’s Prayer is underrated, particularly in many modern churches where it is seldom used as a prayer. Nevertheless, in it, we are taught to pray for forgiveness in the following way:

and forgive us our debts, 
     as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
Matt 6:12[ESV]

Many read this simple line without really pondering what we are really asking God to do. Jesus is teaching us to ask God to forgive us in the same way that we forgive those who sin against us. If you think I am reading things into this passage, consider the verses that immediately follow, where Jesus clarifies his teaching on forgiveness.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, 
     your heavenly Father will also forgive you,  
but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, 
     neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 
Matt 6:14-15[ESV]

When we refuse to forgive, we are doubly, perhaps triply bound. We have the original offense and the damage it caused, the unrelenting bitterness and isolation that our own unforgiveness causes, and the crushing weight of the loss of God’s grace for our own sins against God. Forgiveness unlocks us from everything but the original loss, which typically we can never get back no matter what we do. Forgiveness is costly, but it is far cheaper than the alternative. Forgiveness heals, and unforgiveness multiplies the pain.

Clear Conscious — Light Heart

I have spent far too much time supposedly “stressed out” and unhappy, blaming all the wrong things instead of recognizing that all the internal noise and turmoil were really symptoms of my guilt, shame, and unforgiveness. This was a terrible situation, but in reality, it was far worse than it sounds because, as a Christian, all of it was unnecessary.

Unforgiveness is not a static problem. Like cancer, it metastasizes, mutates, and grows until it destroys us. We will never know a clear conscience until we forgive. Until we forgive, we will never know the forgiveness of God, according to Jesus.

So why don’t we all just forgive? To forgive, we have to admit our own sin and wickedness. To have a clear conscience, we need to not only recognize our sin but actively turn from it. Forgiveness and being forgiven are inescapably intertwined. This is the genius of the Lord’s Prayer. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Forgiving others is not dependent on their actions. It is a choice that we make to release them from their debt, and in the process, we release ourselves. Forgiveness is not cheap. In the process of forgiveness, the one forgiving agrees to cancel the debt of the one being forgiven. It costs $10 to forgive someone for stealing $10. It cost Jesus his life to pay for the deeds we have done against each other and, more importantly, against God.

This Week

This week (or better still, every day), we need to take a long, honest look at the condition of our hearts. A clear conscience brings a light heart, and a light heart brings joy, kindness, generosity, and a host of other blessings. But a clear conscience is impossible until we have dealt with our own sins and forgiven the sins of others.

Forgiveness is expensive but not as expensive as unforgiveness.

So — forgive — and Have a Great Week!