Forgiveness...

I was going to post about this past Sunday's sermon, but as I sat and listened to the sermon, I wondered what the topic was. This preacher was definitely all over the place, not quite as organized as the other preacher I have heard when I've gone to the Beachy church. So new topic :) Forgiveness.

This is a common theme in the Bible, knowing we must forgive those who have tresspassed against us in order to be forgiven by our heavenly Father is something most Christians are taught from a very young age. Forgiveness is a hard thing though, especially as we grow older. Remember when as young children if someone would do something to wrong us a minute later all was forgotten and we were friends again? God wants us to be like little children all the time, to be forgiving without a doubt, to be teachable and to follow what He says. How many times are we to forgive a fellow brother or sister in Christ? The Lord says "not seven times" but "seven times seventy" (Matthew 18:22). Now I don't believe God means that after we reach that number of times that we stop forgiving, I believe the point is that we never stop forgiving someone. As many times as they ask for forgiveness is how many times we should give it. As many times as someone wrongs us, whether or not they ask for forgiveness, is how many times we give it. There are no strings attached to the forgiveness which we receive from our Father, therefore, there should be no strings attached to the forgiveness that we give to another person.

What happens when we hold onto our feelings and do not forgive? The feeling of resentment eats away at our soul, nothing good will come of it. Yes, we may feel powerful over the other person being able to hold their mistake or wrong doing over their head, but that is not what we should do as Christians. We should immediately forgive the person and as many times as their actions come into our heads or hearts we need to forgive again. Forgiveness may not be a one time deal especially if the action really hurt us.

If you are feeling like you are not able to forgive at that moment, what must we do? We must pray and ask God for the strength to forgive the person and for our hearts to be directed to the right place for forgiveness to truly be issued to the person. Only God can give us the strength to forgive those actions which really truly hurt us. God knows our hearts. He knows if we refuse to forgive or if we are unable to at the moment. There is a difference. Unable means that you want to forgive but you do not have the strength to do it on your own. Refuse means that you are digging your heels in the sand and saying you will not forgive the person because of what they did to you. If your heart is not in the right place then there is no sense in saying that you forgive someone because God knows that you simply said the words rather than really truly forgiving the person.

Forgiveness is ordered by our Father, but our hearts must be right in order to truly forgive those who have wronged us.

Blessings in Christ,