The Hardest Act
No this is not about sticking to a diet or being faithful to a gym program or even trying to kick a bad habit. It is forgiving.
Am I the only one who finds forgiveness one of the hardest things in the world? Sure it’s easy when they come to you and ask for forgiveness. It’s easy when they are sorry and you know they won’t do it again. It’s easy when you know that you won’t get hurt again. It’s easy when they make reparations for the wrong they have done.
But what if those people don’t know that you are hurt? Or worse, those people who don’t care that you are hurt?
How easy is it to forgive knowing that they don’t care about their forgiveness and are going to hurt you again? What if there is nothing they can do to make it better?
I looked up the word forgive and its derivatives in the Bible and it is mentioned 118 times. The word mercy appears 276 times. This doesn’t include forbearing, clearing the guilty, blotting out sin etc. Peter asked Jesus how many times we should forgive someone and Jesus said 77 or 70 x 7 times (depending on translation). With seven being the number for God, perfection and completeness it begs the comparison that we should forgive like God: perfectly and completely.
To be like God?? How on earth can we achieve this impossible task? I think that change like this is gradual. We are changed from bit by bit, from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18), the more we focus on God. In fact the more we focus on God, meditate on His Word, admire the radiance of His Glory the more we will be changed. Bit by bit by bit. Focusing on God lifts us up to Him and then our perspective on ourselves, the world and the one who wronged us will change.
In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus tells us about the unforgiving servant. The servant who owed a massive, impossible debt is miraculously granted release. This same servant turns around and hits up someone who owes him a few thousand dollars (or equivalent of 3 months pay). When he asks for more time the servant throws this fellow debtor in jail.
When we see God as He truly is, we see ourselves as we truly are – totally indebted to God. We see that God loves us so unconditionally. And when we let this love totally overwhelm us and enrich us we can love more like Him and we can be truly free to forgive.
