Forgiveness

January 28

Genesis 49-50

Psalm 17:6-9

Proverbs 3:21-23

Matthew 18

Forgiveness

“Then Peter came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Then the master called the servant in, ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-22, 32-35 NIV

The biblical principle of forgiveness is very clear. It is not based on whether the person who has committed the offense is deserving of forgiveness. It has nothing to do with that. So often we get caught up in the idea that the person has done nothing to merit our forgiving them. They may not have asked for forgiveness or in any way even acknowledged that they are wrong. If our extending forgiveness to someone is based on their actions, then we would rarely have to forgive anyone. We could hold on to the bitterness and resentment toward that person indefinitely. But that is not what scripture says. We are to forgive whatever offense is done to us, because we have been forgiven by our Heavenly Father. Just as they are not deserving of our forgiveness, we are not deserving of the forgiveness God has given us. We have been forgiven much by our Master so we should be quick to forgive others.

This is much easier said than done. We have an innate desire for justice where others are concerned, but we want mercy for ourselves. We want them to pay for the sin they committed against us, and to acknowledge their wrong and beg us for forgiveness. We even make it sound more noble by saying that if they don’t acknowledge their sin, then they cannot learn from their mistakes. We think that if we let them off the hook by forgiving them, then they will never learn and they will keep acting the same way. That may be true. But that is not what scripture teaches us. Jesus himself tells us to forgive over and over and over. There is no caveat that says we are to forgive when someone asks us to forgive them, or forgive when the person pays for their sin, or even to forgive when they acknowledge their wrong. We are instructed to forgive because we have been forgiven much. It has nothing to do with their actions at all. We must forgive and leave the rest to God.