Forgiveness

Forgiveness. Doesn't it seem so simple? You think about being a little kid...you get in a fight with a sibling or a friend, your parents make you say "I'm sorry" and then it's all done and over with, right? And really, it should be that easy...but I don't think it is. Not always. And especially not as we age and time passes. The hurt builds up and although we tell each other "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" it seems as though we secretly keep score of how many times someone has wronged us. We say we forgive, but we feel the pain. We don't always know how to separate ourselves from the hurt although we try so hard to move on with the relationship (whatever form it is--friends, siblings, dating, family, etc.).

But then...it all changes--our perspective that is. When we open our Bible and begin to read, forgiveness begins to take on a different light. In Matthew 18:21-35, The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, we see the first servant, who is in more debt than can even be described, given complete pardon--a slate wiped completely clean. And then, we see him turning right around and refusing to give pardon to another servant who's debt is not nearly as great as his own. How painfully true that is in our own lives. Over and over and over again God pardons our sins. He completely forgives us and wipes clean the slate with absolutely no payment needed from us. And then what do we do? We turn to those who owe us and refuse to let it slide. We feel that we are owed. We do this with our forgiveness all the time. We don't want to fully forgive those who have hurt us. We may even go so far as to saying we have forgiven them, but is it ever completely wiped clean? No matter how hard we try, we are humans. We fail at all we do...including forgiveness. We are so incredibly in need of God's grace--even when it comes to just learning to forgive others.

And the real beauty of it all is that when we forgive those who have hurt us, we learn to trust the Lord and his Promise to provide all that we need. When we forgive those who have let us down and disappointed us, we see the Gospel come to life as we find fulfillment, hope, and joy in God's word. Each time we forgive, we are given the opportunity to turn to the Lord to fix the hurt, fill the void, provide for our needs---mostly, just to love us the way that we were designed to be loved and long to be loved. Because, after all, doesn't it seem that all forgiveness relates back to not feeling loved/appreciated/needed/cared for/etc. the way that we believe we deserve to be?

So the answer is, forgive. Forgive and Pray. Pray for the Lord to heal, to remove bitterness, and to provide. Pray that you will learn to trust that the Lord will provide all of these things because He will.