Forgiveness

"At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, 'Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?' Jesus replied, 'Seven! Hardly. Try Seventy times seven.'" Matthew 18:21-22 (The Message)


I've been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately. I don't know why. I was reminded about forgiveness a few weeks ago when I heard a line from one of my favorite speakers: forgiven people forgive. Harboring unforgiveness will ruin you like nothing else. If you don't forgive someone, you will find it hard to love anyone. If you don't forgive others, you'll be less likely to seek it yourself. If you don't forgive those who've wronged you, you simply won't be happy.

That's the thing about unforgiveness, it eats away at you.  You think it's doing the person you're not forgiving harm, but it's really doing you harm.  You think you're really sticking it to them by not forgiving them, but you're really hurting yourself.  You're the one still thinking about it.  You're the one still tossing and turning through sleepless nights over it.  Why won't you just forgive them?  Well, unforgiveness makes us feel like we have power.

It's a hard lesson to forgive others because we want revenge and payback. We want there to be a pennance paid. Sometimes we want even more, as Doc Holiday says about Wyatt Earp in the greatest movie of all time, "It's not the revenge he's after, it's the reckoning." There is no room for revenge, payback or reckoning in grace. Jesus got revenge on sin, his blood paid back the debt, and his death reckoned all humanity befor God. He has already forgiving what you just can't forgive. You see what unforgiveness does? It makes us feel like a god. We get to mete our justice and mercy. We hold the upper hand. This kind of thinking doesn't sit so well with God. That's why unforgiveness eats away at us. It is, perhaps, the most wicked of all emotions. Moreover, it slaps Jesus in the face, for if He can forgive us for sinning against Him, how in the world can we have the audacity to NOT forgive others who have sinned against us. If we have truly experienced God's forgiveness, then the most natural thing to do is forgive. Forgiven people realize how much mercy they've received. Forgiven people know how broken they are. Forgiven people forgive. Not just once. Not a bunch. To infinity. They keep forgiving because forgiveness is always - ALWAYS - better than harboring a grudge. And it always feels better.  And you can breathe afterward.  And smile again.  And go on with life. 

Here's the kicker.  When we do forgive, only then are we like God, but in the right way.  And that feels good because it is good.  Is there someone you need to forgive today?