The truth about forgiveness

Friends,

How often have you heard that we are supposed to forgive and forget? This has even been attributed as a biblical principle – the only problem is that God never told us to forgive AND forget.

Consider this: We are VERY human and in our carnal state it is not remembering the sin that is wrong, it’s how we remember it.

If I am remembering someone else’s trespass against me for the purposes of fueling my hatred toward them, then God’s going to have a problem with that.

If I am remembering the trespass as a reminder of how human we all really are and to fuel my compassion toward humanity, then God will be pleased.

You see, we can’t expect God to forgive us if we are unwilling to forgive others — was this not the Lord’s prayer?

Not to mention that Jesus also said that if we didn’t forgive genuinely (from the heart) our brother his trespasses, then God would not forgive us (Matt.18:35).

The issue I like to focus on is how much more the world will get to understand our God by the way we forgive. Any fool can seek revenge, but it takes a child of God to love their enemies, have compassion for those who persecute and give grace to evildoers.

You don’t forgive people because they ask for it or because they deserve it. You forgive my friend because you have been forgiven.

Selah