Forgiveness
By Saint Stuart

Forgiveness can be tough. Someone brings pain and destruction to the life of another and we’re supposed to forgive them? What does that exactly mean? To forgive. I’ve grown up with certain conceptions of forgiveness, but until I began to practice it as the Bible teaches, I didn’t really understand how important it is to maintaining a life of true peace. To many, I think it’s seen as a sign of weakness, or even a way of saying “what you did was not wrong.” “If I forgive them, that means they win.” We don’t need to let down our guard, however, when we forgive. We don’t need to admit defeat.

Forgiveness can be uncomfortable even in the simplest scenarios. “I’m sorry.” “It’s okay.” is a common exchange, as the person who was offended flusters to find an excuse as to how it was really their own fault. No. It’s not okay. The victim should accept the apology and offer forgiveness. If anything, forgiveness is a validation that what the offending person did was wrong. Do we forgive people who haven’t done any wrong? Hopefully not! Some people might not understand that what they do harms another, even when they are told that it does and asked to stop. Forgiving them might even offer some insight for them to understand their behaviour.

Most people probably expect something before offering forgiveness—an apology, a display of sincere sorrow, restoration to what was lost, a change in behaviour and attitude, and an explanation or understanding of why what they did was wrong. For some, even those things aren’t enough to convince them to forgive something so heinous and horrible that a life of hatred and resentment seems a just response. The Bible teaches us to forgive others daily, though, without any stipulation. How can that be earnestly accomplished, and what good does it bring?

What is forgiveness exactly? “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” Jesus taught to say in prayer to God. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14) Why does God ask us to forgive others in order to receive His forgiveness? Well, why do we seek God’s forgiveness? We can know forgiveness by receiving it from God or another person. We sin, causing destruction, and a sadness lingers—a regret. We’ve made someone upset, and we know why. Will there be a punishment? Living with the consequences sometimes seems like punishment enough.

Forgiveness can easily be understood in terms of debt, as with the parable in Matthew 18 of the king who had a servant with a debt of ten thousand talents that he couldn’t pay. The king commanded that the servant, his wife, children and all that he had be sold in order to receive a payment. Measures were needed to be taken in order to compensate for what the servant was obliged to pay back. The resolution was very drastic for the servant and his family, leaving them with no possessions. The servant fell down before his master, saying “have patience with me, and I will pay you all.” (Matthew 18: 26). The master was “moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.”

Read the full article at https://thefiretongue.com/2022/12/28/forgiveness/

#Christian #Catholic #Jesus #Christ #God #bible #church #spiritual #religious #believer #blessed #faith #hallelujah #praisegod #forgiveness #grace