Have you ever been hurt by people? Has your character ever been assassinated by gossip? Well, I think we all can answer these questions in the affirmative. As Christians what should our response be when we are wronged? I believe that the best decision we can make and the one God expects us to make is to forgive the individual who has harmed us. For the unbeliever this is near impossible but for the Christian not only is this possible but it can lead to great freedom for us as well as joy. Please let me explain.
When you choose not to forgive someone who has hurt you, you place yourself in a situation of bondage and you forfeit the joy and peace that true forgiveness can bring. The reason is that when we don’t forgive we often store up bitterness and hatred toward the person who has wronged us, which not only steals our joy in life, but will over the long haul clearly have a negative impact on our health.
As I shared in a previous devotion on forgiveness there are several reasons Christians struggle with forgiveness. And the main reason is that they don’t fully understand what forgiveness is and is not. Briefly:
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that what the person did to us was OK. If someone slanders our good name then that act is categorically wrong.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean we have to trust the person we are forgiving. If you lend someone $100 and they refuse to pay it back we need to forgive that person but we don’t have to trust that person with another loan. Forgiveness should be freely given but trust has to be earned.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean that the individual we are forgiving will not have to suffer negative consequences. If someone steals from a store, the storeowner needs to forgive that person, but he may still be arrested and have to pay a fine or go to jail.
And finally, forgiveness doesn’t mean that the individual who wronged us won’t ultimately have to answer to God for what he has done. While that person may think that they don’t have to make amends, he will one day have to face God.
Once we understand what forgiveness is and is not, we can see that not only is forgiveness possible, but it is the pathway to true joy! There are several reasons that practicing true forgiveness brings joy.
First, forgiving others pleases the Lord. There are few things that can bring us more joy than knowing that by our actions we are pleasing the Lord and putting a smile on His face.
Second, as I shared earlier, when we don’t forgive others we put ourselves in mental bondage. But when we forgive we release ourselves from this bondage and there is nothing more liberating than being bondage free! And the natural result is joy!
Third, an unforgiving spirit shuts down our prayers from being heard by God. But when we practice forgiveness God not only hears, but answers. Knowing that our prayers are heard by God brings joy to our hearts.
And fourth, when we forgive others and they know that we have forgiven them, it often can reestablish a broken relationship, cause the other person to repent, and just maybe, if they are not a Christian, cause them to want to know more about Jesus – and there is so much joy in knowing these things.
I believe that forgiving others is not only the pathway to true joy and peace but one of the ways we demonstrate our Christian character to the world and our love of the Savior.
In conclusion forgiveness shows that you understand what the gospel message is all about. When we consider that Jesus has forgiven us a lifetime of sins it only makes sense that we should want to extend forgiveness to those that have hurt us. Not being willing to grant forgiveness shows we haven’t fully grasped what Jesus has done for us. And the more we take time to rejoice in our own forgiveness, the quicker we will be able to forgive others.