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| To Err is Human; to Forgive...is Hard! |
This issue of forgiveness: God’s forgiveness of our sins, as well as our forgiveness of the sins of others against God and us is so important that it holds a prominent place in "the Lord’s Prayer" or the prayer Jesus taught the disciples to pray:
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Forgive us our debts (trespasses) AS WE forgive our debtors (those who trespass against us.)" (6:12)…WITH an explanation of that principle following the amen: (14-15): "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do NOT forgive men their sins, your Father will NOT forgive your sins.” (Emphasis added)
Is it easier to forgive strangers than people we know? Is it easier to forgive people we know than people we are very close to? Or is it harder to forgive those closest to us than it is to forgive those who are not as close? For some, it just is simply hard to forgive period.
And we haven’t even asked the question of how hard it might be to forgive someone who has wounded, offended or hurt those closest to us…
I ask the questions only to get to this point: Jesus never said, "Forgive those whom it is easy to forgive." He never said, "You don’t have to forgive those who hurt you or your loved ones badly enough..." He said simply," Forgive. Forgive your enemies". I guess we can imply that He wants us to forgive our friends and family members, too.
True forgiveness is neither weakness nor is it condoning the actions of the offender or criminal. Forgiveness is giving up our right to punish another. it is releasing them from the hurt they caused us. Christian forgiveness is putting ourselves, our reputation, our hurts and our justice in the hands of God while we refuse to take vengeance or defense. Who would you rather trust to work things out in such a way that we have everything we need and God is able to work in the lives of others OR trust our own wisdom, sense of justice and emotional reactions?
I’m sure glad God did not react to our sins out of an immediate, emotional outburst…we’d ALL be dead. Amen?
What do you think?
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Posted by hopethrugrace on 2009-11-02 23:19:30 | Rating: | Views: 7
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