I was talking to a friend about forgiveness. It’s a hard thing to do sometimes, isn’t it? When we have been wronged or treated badly it can be just plain hard to forgive. The thing is, unforgiveness eats us up inside and affects our relationships with others because bitterness kills our spirit. But ho do we work through forgiveness of someone who has hurt us? Interestingly enough……it all starts with us.
First & foremost, it is important that we shed the guilt of OUR past and accept GOD’S forgiveness in our lives.
These burdens hold us down and kill the spark in our lives.
1 John 1:8-9 (TNIV)
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”Ephesians 4:32 (TNIV)
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”Colossians 3:13 (TNIV)
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary definition of forgiveness is: “the wiping out of the offense from memory by the one affronted, along with the restoration of harmony”. This definition comes from that nature of God’s forgiveness for us as shown in the Bible. My question is, when we forgive someone, how much do we wipe out the offense from our memory? Shouldn’t we be trying?
Secondly, it is important to understand that forgiveness is primarily for us, not the other person.
It is interesting that we are made in the image of God, that forgiveness is for us, not for the person we forgive, and that as God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, He affirms also that forgiveness is for his sake. I believe that it is important that we strive to love like God loves and forgive like God forgives.
Isaiah 43:25 (TNIV, God speaking through the prophet Isaiah)
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
And thirdly, we need to search our lives, there are people in our lives we need to forgive…..for us, not so much for them…. and we need to release the unforgiveness that we are dragging around with us.
The Greek word used by Jesus in Luke 6:37 that is translated as “forgive” is apoluo [ap·ol·oo·o]. This word is has other meanings: “release”, “put away”, “send away”, “let go”, “to set free–to detain no longer”, “to loose the bonds” ….as in when someone is a prisoner.
When we ask God for forgiveness, He wants to set us free to move forward. He wants us to no longer be detained by our sin. Release yourself by asking God for forgiveness. Know that God has let go of that sin or wrong and you should let go also. Remember that true repentance is a turning around, a turning away from that which God knows harms us. Ask Jesus to open the doors before you to the new life that He promised, and don’t look back. God doesn’t….you don’t have too. He wants us to move forward into a life lived to the fullest.
Luke 6:37-38 (TNIV)
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”