FORGIVENESS...ITS NOT ABOUT YOU I do not want to venture down all trails of forgiveness in this article, only one. That is, is forgiveness of others for my benefit, or is forgiveness for the offenders benefit? Am I to forgive so that I can be free, or am I to forgive so the offender can go free? This is so very important to understand, as I hope you will see. I, like all of you, have gone through experiences in my life where I have had to make a choice to forgive (or not) someone who had offended me. Faced with this choice, and having sought out counsel from family and friends, I had to come to that moment in time where I had to choose. I was hurt, angry, disappointed, even resentful, and just wanted relief from the emotions I was going through. This is common, and quite natural. Inevitably during the process someone would say something to the effect, you need to forgive them for your own peace of mind, or forgiveness isnt about them, it is for you. Have you ever subscribed to that thought? I have. However, a closer look at scripture reveals the true motive behind forgiving, or as I like to say, the forgiving process. Let me explain by beginning with some questions. Who did Jesus die for? Right! He died for you and I (thank God). Why did Jesus die? Correct again! He did so that you and I could be forgiven for our sins (offenses) against God. Was Jesus relieved from pain and suffering in His dying for our forgiveness? Of course not! He was, to put it mildly, brutalized in the most horrific way for OUR relief, not His. So, what am I getting at here? Glad you asked! Those who would tell you that the act (process) of forgiving someone who has offended you is for your own personal benefit (relief) has totally missed the point of forgiveness, and has bought into a contemporary view of the topic. But they arent the first. In Matthew 18:21 the (then) disciple Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Jesus gives the famous seventy times seven answer that we all are familiar with. But have you ever wondered why Peter had, in his question, attached a number to it? I have. I believe Peter, being as human as anyone else, was reflecting the emotions that accompany the offense, and he thought seven times was being not only generous in the amount, but the amount of (fill in the emotion) someone should have to suffer at the hand of the offender. So for Jesus to respond seventy times seven just had to blow Peters mind! Imagine the hurt someone can inflict with what amounts to unlimited forgiveness? More than I can express here! Jesus, beginning in verse 23 of that same chapter, gives a parable that I will briefly summarize here, trusting that you will read it for yourself later. But suffice to say, there is a man that owes a debt that would be impossible, in one lifetime, to pay back. And the one to whom he owes the debt forgives him this impossible debt, only for him to turn around and choke the daylights out of another who owes him a very payable debt just because the man needed more time. When the original person (Jesus is in view) who forgave the impossible debt (that he had to absorb) finds out about the choking he reacts in great wrath. What is the lesson? Jesus, by his sacrifice, has forgiven us our impossible debt, a debt that we could not repay in endless lifetimes, and now expects us to forgive others their payable debts that they owe us. This idea of debt is exactly what it sounds like. It is a debt. It is owed, and needs to have a payment made to resolve the issue. So this means that when we forgive a debt we, ourselves, agree to absorb to cost of that debt. In truth, WE, ourselves, pay the price for that debt, that offense, that sin that was committed against us! And that is EXACTLY what Jesus did for us at Calvary! He absorbed the price of my impossible debt! Just listen: Isaiah 53:4-8 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? Stricken for the transgression (debt, sin, offense) of my people?. See the question mark there? See the confusion the prophet had? See the word stricken there in verse eight? It simply means that He, Jesus, was violently treated for my sins, and for yours. So, I ask you again, was Jesus relieved of pain and suffering for forgiving us our debts? NO!!! Just the opposite, He absorbed the cost, the price, for our debt. This IS true biblical forgiveness. We absorb the cost, the pain, the suffering, for the SAKE of the OFFENDER. Let that sink in for a moment... You see, when someone tells you that forgiveness is for your peace of mind they are doing you and the offender a great injustice. Injustice to you because they are not seeking to model Christ. An injustice to the offender, because they will never be able to appreciate the cost you paid on their behalf, and by that seek reconciliation to you, and thereby fail to understand unconditional love. I admit that this kind of forgiveness can only be supernatural. But then again, we believers have the Holy Spirit living on the inside to empower us to do many things, including forgiving others. So, in closing, I want to leave you with a nugget of truth that confirms that God the Father does NOT leave us without reward in eternity for our sacrifice! Read this: Philippians 2:5-11- Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. See that? Praise God! Because of Christ selfless love and sacrifice, even on a cross of shame and humility, God the Father has highly exalted him for his forgiving act! And we are promised that we will be as well! Read: Matthew 25:21- His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. ’ Our forgiving others, like the man with the impossible debt, is little compared to all that Christ absorbed on our behalf. In short, we forgive because we have been forgiven. We can forgive offenses, and absorb the debt, because our offenses and debt for our WHOLE life has been forgiven in Christ Jesus, our Savior and King! Amen! Be blessed!
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 20:14:22 +0000
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