Forgiveness

 

I vividly remember doing an experiment in chemistry lab while I was in college. I looked down and noticed that a few of my fingers were smoking where the acid I was working with had started eating into the skin. I quickly washed the acid off with no lasting harm done. I was much more careful after that!

 

Unforgiveness is an acid that eats away at our heart and mind and spirit. It has the capability of doing great damage to us. You would think that we’d want to wash the acid off before it disfigures us but most of us find it very hard to do so.  It can be especially hard if the other person is not repentant in any way.

 

Jesus gave us a stern warning about unforgiveness, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mt 6:14-15). He further illustrated the point with the parable of the unforgiving debtor who begged successfully to have his huge debt forgiven only to refuse to forgive the tiny amount that was owed to him. God has forgiven our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus. Nothing that ever happens to us can compare with that.

 

Forgiveness is not a matter of emotion - it is a matter of will. We need to be people of forgiveness if we are to be people of God. Forgiveness does not come easy to our human nature. We may need to make the decision to forgive over and over until it takes hold. We can ask God for the grace to forgive, confident that He will answer our prayer. We can pray for those who have hurt us. We then can begin to heal from the corrosive effect of our unforgiveness.

 

For those who would like some additional resources, you can review the articles listed below.

https://findinggodamongus.com/forgiveness/

https://joycemeyer.org/everydayanswers/ea-teachings/4-steps-to-forgiveness