Forgiveness is
not the same thing as reconciliation, restitution, or approval of sin.
Forgiving, according to Jesus in his parable of the unforgiving servant,
involves a singular decision by which you consider another person
no longer indebted to you.
In that same
parable, Jesus draws attention to the fact that an unforgiving person lives
with a desire for retribution. That desire becomes like an acid that eats a
container from the inside out. An unforgiving person cannot live a life of
faith because he believes someone other than God holds the key to his joy. An
unforgiving person, therefore, lives a life of sin and is unpleasing to God. He
is in a prison of uselessness and out of fellowship with the heavenly Father.
He has made his own heart into a dungeon in which he has imprisoned those he
won’t forgive, and he lives in personal torment as a result.
How liberating
it is to practice forgiveness! And believers in Christ, those who have repented
of sin and trusted in Him alone for salvation, can forgive others because they
themselves are forgiven. In the story of the Gospel, we discover that because
of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we can come to God, receiving both
forgiveness and eternal life. That’s good news for us, as well as for others.
Having been forgiven ourselves, we can now forgive those who in any way have
offended us. Forgiveness always brings a joyfulness. When the heart cannot
forgive then ask God to give us a heart that always wants to forgive. Amen
