Forgiveness
I will be the first to admit that I have struggled with forgiving people. The pain that others have caused me and that I have caused has kept me a prisoner to hatred and guilt. Forgiveness is what sets us free and gives us the ability to love constantly and unconditionally. And it is this sure and certain love under any circumstance that makes people whole. It is a reflection of the love our savior gives to every person daily, that reminds us there is nothing anyone could do that would make him not love them.
In offering forgiveness, Paul demonstrates such great wisdom. In 2 Corinthians 2:10 he writes, “When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ's authority for your benefit ….”
Paul is saying that forgiveness is crucial for unity, the benefit of the church, and the direction of each soul.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul continues and draws the whole discussion to its critical conclusion, “… in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
The enemy knows that if we refuse to forgive our hearts will grow cold. We will be hostile and incapable of love. He knows that if forgiveness is withheld often enough, we will start hiding our shortcomings and failures. He knows that hiding imperfections and faults will alienate us from others who cannot relate to "perfect" people, and will in turn impede God’s plan to make each of us known and loved.
Pastor Anderson wrote, “I admit that in my pastoral experience I have not had much success in getting people to own up to their sins against the congregation. It is not an easy task to say that we have been selfish, rude, or petty. It is a shame that the church should be the one place where we can be honest and be forgiven, but we often feel we must be secretive. May we all pledge ourselves to being honest and faithful to our congregations and to ourselves. A careful inventory of our own faults is the place to begin.”
Why are we so hesitant to confess? Do we fear we won’t be forgiven?
And what keeps us from freely giving grace and forgiving? It is possible that we struggle to give grace because we don’t understand the depths of our own depravity.
Is it difficult to forgive wrongs that we can’t relate to and that we feel we would never commit, wrongs that we think we are above?
Billy Graham stated, “Though sins have different earthly consequences, in one sense, all sins are equal in that they all separate us from God. The Bible’s statement, ‘For the wages of sin is death …’ (Romans 6:23), applies to all sin, whether in thought, word, or deed.”
Paul in Romans 3:23 writes, “[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
We are not better than anyone else. We have been forgiven for the worst.
The good news is there is great reward in understanding just how much forgiveness we personally need. Those that have been forgiven much love much.
In Luke 7:47 Christ says, "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."
This great love is for all of us if we accept it. As we confess we are forgiven much and protected from even more.
Christian author Margaret Fienberg points out the sins of Sodom were no greater than ours.
Ezekiel 16:49 says, "'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”
We are all guilty of these sins. “Arrogance, check, overfed, check, unconcerned with the poor and needy, check,” Margaret Fienberg admits.
We can all recognize how greatly we are forgiven if we see ourselves no differently than the worse sinner. Paul said he was the worst. In Timothy 1:15 he writes, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.”
The great evangel Paul understood his depravity and rejoiced in his salvation. He connected with the suffering, freely gave grace, and shared with them the miracle of redemption found only at the cross. Let’s join Paul in giving our trustworthy saying, “I am the worst.”
I have been forgiven much. We are all forgiven much, as much as a murderer, and when we fully come to understand the magnitude of what we have been forgiven we will be overwhelmed with gratitude and freely give grace to others.
Thank you Lord for rescuing us from distrust, from selfishness, from deceit, from loneliness, from anger, from pride. And may we never forget all you have forgiven us for, all you continue to forgive us for, and ALL you protect us from. Let’s give grace because there is no act so offensive to withhold forgiveness when we understand that our Abba Father wants nothing more than to free us and perfect us all.
