FORGIVENESS

Originally posted June 7th 2015

This is one of the things that are non-negotiable in the Kingdom of God and quite hard to follow in our own strength. Many people have been hurt and they therefore feel that they have a right to not forgive, to hold a grudge or to even revenge. “Why MUST I forgive?” they ask. “Do you know how much he/she/they hurt me?” they insist. This forgiveness business does not sound logical BUT as a Christian (a child of God) what does Jesus expect from us? In Mark 11:22-26 Jesus teaches us how to pray the prayer of faith and He concludes in verse 25-26 by stating that if we do not forgive, we cannot even come before God in prayer (that’s one reason why many people’s prayers are not answered).

Mark 11:25-26
²⁵ And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.²⁶ But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. (KJV)

     Peter also asked the Lord (Matt 18:21-22) how many times one should forgive in a day when wronged. Jesus replied by saying that we should forgive 70 X 7 times. That’s 490 times: in a single day! You might also remember this quote from The Lord’s Prayer “forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matt 6:12). So you see friends, God expects us to forgive and if we don’t He will not forgive us our sins (Matt 18:35). Think about it this way, how many times do we sin against God? Yet He ALWAYS forgives us. If God who is holy forgives us when we don’t deserve it who are we to say that we cannot forgive.

When Jesus was dying on the cross his enemies mocked Him, spat on Him, beat Him, pierced Him, humiliated Him etc. Yet Jesus (while dying and suffering on that cross) says:

Luke 23:24a
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do… (KJV)

He actually forgave them. Stephen did the same thing. He forgave the Sanhedrin (the Pharisees, Sadducees, Teachers of the Law etc) while they were stoning him to death and his last words were a statement of forgiveness towards his killers, the leader being Saul (Apostle Paul).

Acts 7:60
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep [died]. (KJV)

I personally believe that this prayer of forgiveness to God by Stephen is what led to the turn around in Paul’s life because Jesus appears to Him a little while later. This man (Stephen) did not forgive by his own power in the flesh but rather by the power of the Holy Spirit within him. Amen! That kind of forgiveness cannot come from within the corrupt man (the flesh and soul) but from the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember what Paul tells us about love in I Corinthians 13:4 that it “keeps no record of wrongs”. That is unconditional love from the Father that can only be seen in us through Jesus.

     Then comes the question: “How can I forgive when it hurts so bad that I don’t even want to see that person that hurt me?” Well, I always say this, that you make the conscious decision before God to forgive and let Him take care of the healing and forgetting part and I promise you, the Holy Spirit will do it. Don’t forget: do not forgive in word only but also in deed and in truth because faith without action is dead (James 2:26).

Thank you,

Shalom שׁלם 

Further reading:

Colossians 3:12-13
¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. (KJV)

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