Forgive, As Often As It Takes
Scripture: "Even if they sin against you seven times in
a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive
them.” (Luke 17:4 ).
When our daughter was born five
years ago, I became very ill with an infection that almost killed me. One
doctor didn’t believe that I was having problems and mocked me. He rudely sent
us home without bothering to find out what was wrong. So two days later, I was
back in the hospital, screaming, with the most intense pain of my life. It took
them another 12 hours to find out what was going on. This event led to other
health complications. Needless to say, my family and I have had to work hard to
forgive that doctor.
Forgive Others
Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us
our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” ( Matthew 6:12 ). So we
know that God will forgive us when we forgive others. But it has been a
struggle to follow the advice of Apostle Paul, in this situation, to “Get rid
of all bitterness, rage, [and] anger”(Ephesians 4:31 ). In fact, sometimes when
we remember the situation, we become so upset about it that we have to forgive
the doctor all over again! But we will forgive as often as we have to. Jesus
taught, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive
them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:23), and we don’t want a lack of
forgiveness hanging over our lives.
Imitate Christ
Genuine forgiveness is hard. It
involves sacrifice on the part of those who have been wronged. But St. Paul
instructed us, "Imitate God in everything you do" (Ephesians 5:1),
and our Lord "poured out [His blood] as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of
many" (Matthew 26:28). If we are going to be like Jesus Christ, we must be
willing to sacrifice and forgive – many, many times, if necessary. When we walk
in His footsteps, others can learn that the Lord is "so good, so ready to
forgive, so full of unfailing love" (Psalm 86:5).
The Process of Daily Forgiveness
Scripture: (Matthew 6:12, 14-15).
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus says,
"Forgive us our sins as we forgive others who sin against us." He
makes forgiveness a priority by linking our asking Him to forgive us, with our
forgiving others. (Matthew 6:11).
Because of what Jesus teaches us in
the Bible, I want to encourage you to include those who have wronged you, as
you pray for God to bless the people around you.
If a teacher, fellow employee,
colleague, supervisor or a family member abuses you for no reason (physically
or emotionally), your natural human responses might include fighting back,
silently cursing them, or nursing bad thoughts about them.
Jesus gives us an alternative,
consisting of two parts: First, forgive the person in your heart. Second, pray
God's blessing or peace on the person and situation.
You may experience offenses like
these on a random basis, or they might happen regularly (for example, where a
husband abuses a wife, or when you are persecuted for your faith). It is
difficult enough to forgive and pray when it happens occasionally. When this abuse
happens regularly, you should still forgive and pray, but I urge you to also
get help and advice from a trusted friend, elder or counselor.
Your PRAY Challenge: "Lord,
I pray that You will give me the strength to forgive, and pray Your blessing
immediately on anyone who wrongs me today. Let me look on them with Your eyes
of love and forgiveness. In the Name of Jesus, Amen."
A Helpful Tip: Sometimes the things
that happen to us are so bad and it makes us so angry that we feel we cannot
forgive. Think about Jesus' suffering after His arrest, leading up to His death
No comments:
Post a Comment