Forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful concepts in the realm of human psychology. It is a cornerstone, if not ‘The’ cornerstone, of Christianity. To forgive is to release someone from their debt of offense. Without Gods forgiveness there may not even be a human race and there would be no Christianity. Without our ability to forgive each other most of our relationships would become impossible. Without our forgiveness for ourselves we would be unable to grow emotionally and spiritually.

The fact is that it is hard to know our own minds sometimes. We may not understand our own motivations for doing something. All of us make mistakes and we all sin. A part of our maturing process is to learn to forgive each other, and ourselves, for our mistakes and transgressions. To do so can help us in drawing closer to each other. Every one of us can recall times when we’ve wronged someone, maybe without even knowing why. Afterwards, when they forgave us, we felt closer to them than ever. Forgiveness can help to form life-changing bonds between people because it comes from love.

While it is a cornerstone concept in the Christian faith, it is often easier said than done.
We all have personal stories about someone who has wronged us and never apologized or asked for our forgiveness. Sometimes the hardest thing to feel towards someone who has wronged us is forgiveness. We have it in our power to choose to carry the offense as a burden or to forgive them anyway. Sometimes we do it just for ourselves…just so we don’t have to continue to carry the emotional baggage. To carry the feeling that we’ve been wronged only drags us down and hurts us. Forgiveness can release us from that burden. It can uplift both the forgiver and the forgiven.

Forgiveness is something God expects of all of us. In the Lords Prayer we ask that He “forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US”. In other words, He’ll deal with us the way we deal with others. Forgiveness flows from mercy. Mercy flows from Love. Love flows from God. That is what Christianity is after all…a vehicle for conveying Gods Love to man. If you’re not forgiving your debtors…you’re missing the mark.

When Christ was asked how many times we should forgive someone for offenses to us His answer was…seventy times seven times. Just think about what God has forgiven you of and it seems a much smaller number afterward.

Perhaps the greatest thing about forgiveness is that it’s available to everyone. God offers it to us freely through the sacrifice of His son Jesus the Christ. And we all have it in our power to forgive each other and ourselves. It may not happen all at once. More often than not it’s a process, one that charts our spiritual growth. Where we fall short we can always go to God in prayer and ask for His help. When you have no love to give, you can always turn to The Source of Love. He will forgive us our debts and He will forgive others through us if we only ask…