We Will Forgive

God commands us to forgive.

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25 NIV)

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32 NIV)

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22 NIV)

Forgiving others as God has forgiven us is a crucial part of following Jesus. There are few things more confusing to our world than resentful, vengeful, unforgiving Christians. People who claim the name of Jesus but refuse to love with His love like He loves make it extremely difficult for people to understand who God is, what He has done, and what He promises to do. Refusing to forgive is a gross misrepresentation of God’s grace.

The great hope of Christianity is that forgiveness is available to everyONE! No matter who you are or what you’ve done or what’s been done to you…God is for you, He loves you, and His forgiveness is freely offered to you. If God is willing to forgive me then who am I to deny forgiveness to someone else? If I have received perfect, limitless forgiveness then why would I choose to hold onto the wrongs of others?

I think sometimes we choose to believe a lie. We think that God can forgive because…well…He is God, but that we cannot forgive because we are humans. We accept a view of self that is not in line with who God declares that we are. If we have been forgiven, then we can forgive. Not forgiving is an intentional choice to rebel against God’s command. Believing that we are incapable of forgiving is to call God a liar or to assume that we know more than He does.

We are forgiven and we are given the ability to forgive, so what is stopping us? I suppose there are many reasons we give to not forgive.

One reason is that they don’t deserve it. That’s kind of the point of forgiveness…they don’t deserve it, but we forgive anyway.

Another reason is that we are wounded and if we forgive, we might lose our pain. When people sin against us, they cause damage. That damage hurts and leaves deep wounds. It is understandable to feel like we have earned those wounds and that the wounds are a central part of our identities. We think, “who would I be if I was free from this pain?” Jesus died on the cross for your sins and for the sins done against you. He took care of sin on the cross. It died in His body and was buried with Him in the tomb. When Jesus rose from the dead, sin stayed dead. He has done it. It is finished. When we refuse to forgive, we are digging up death. We hold onto death and refuse to let it go. We walk around with the stench of death while claiming to be alive in Christ. This should not be.

We are forgiven and we can forgive. Are you ready for the best part? We will forgive. There is a day coming when sin is no more. There is no sin in heaven. We cannot take the sins of others with us. We will let go of every sin done against us and there will be no barrier of sin between us and God or between one another. If we are forgiven and we can forgive and we will forgive, then what are we waiting on?

“Be perfect therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 NIV) Jesus commands us to forgive completely just as we are forgiven completely. Why would He ask us to do something that He hasn’t given us the ability to do? Jesus made the way for forgiveness. We will forgive, so let’s get to it.