Forgiving one another
Recently an adult (we’ll call “Bill”) confessed to me that he was having trouble forgiving someone (we’ll call “Joe”). We talked for some time about the situation and Bill knew that he was wrong not to forgive Joe, but Bill was really struggling with what Joe did and just couldn’t forgive him.
Bill knows Scripture very well, and also knows that he must forgive Joe. However, Bill was upset because Joe never said “I’m sorry” and Bill was also worried that Joe might do something again that might hurt him in the future.
Everyday, we live in a world of “hypotheticals.” At work, we say “what if…,” knowing full well that this hypothetical situation may never occur. We seem to be more pessimistic sometimes, and forget that God is in control. Too often, we allow the “what if” or possible future situation to control our present situation.
Unfortunately, in situations like these, I don’t have the power to help Bill forgive Joe. I don’t even have the words to say to help him understand what he already knows about forgiveness.
But Christ told us that we should
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32
When I look back upon how Christ was treated by others, I wonder how He could have forgiven any of us for the pain, the suffering, the agony, and the BETRAYAL that He suffered. If Jesus had lived in a world of “what ifs” or thought about how we would continue to treat Him, He might never have forgiven us. But He did! Jesus loved us so much that He gave His life as a showing of His love for us and a symbol of His forgiveness of us.
And While I believe that Scripture is the ultimate and best source of our teaching, I do believe that some people on earth have really taken the intent of Scripture and laid it out in “layman’s terms” with a twist to help us understand it better:
- “Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
- “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” - Lewis B. Smedes
- “He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
One final remark that reminds us that forgiveness is not a tool that is used in seclusion:
- “Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.