Jump Start # 1091

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

  Forgiveness is hard. It is the most Christ like characteristic found in the Bible. A person can be generous and still ungodly. A person can help the hurting. A person can serve and not have the heart of Jesus. It is nearly impossible to forgive and not be like Christ.

Forgiveness is the reason Jesus came. He came to seek and save that which is lost. That involved the cross and that offered forgiveness. Forgiveness follows grace. Forgiveness isn’t letting go after the debt is paid. There’s nothing left, when that happens. Forgiveness is letting it go when something is still owed. It is releasing the debt.

Forgiveness is hard to understand. Forgiveness is harder still to apply. Jonah struggled with this. The elder brother in the story of the prodigal struggled with this. The forgiven servant struggled with this toward a man who owed him. We want to be forgiven but we have a hard time forgiving others. In the sample prayer that Jesus illustrated in Matthew 6, the one statement that He clarified and added additional thought involved forgiving others. If you don’t forgive, Jesus said, neither will the Father forgive you. Serious business is forgiveness.

There are three aspects of forgiveness. All of them are complicated and need to be understood.

First, God forgiving us. Doesn’t make a lot of sense that He does that, but He does. He loves us. He forgives not because we are so valuable to the kingdom, nor that we are so cute and adorable. He chooses to forgive. Forgiveness is always a choice. Forgive or get even. Forgive or remember. Forgive or revenge. God wants to forgive. Our trust and faith in Him, our coming home as the prodigal does, is the bridge upon which forgiveness is built and we can have access to the Father.

Second, forgiving others is hard. When hurt, we want blood. When hurt, we want someone to pay. Is it any wonder that there are so many lawsuits today. Forgiveness isn’t high on people’s list of things. They want money. They want to others to hurt like they hurt. Forgiving others is hard. Peter thought forgiving seven times was pushing the limits of generosity. Jesus said, “Seventy times seven.” Keep forgiving. Our verse today emphasizes the need to forgive “Even as” God has forgiven us. Have you noticed how God forgives? There isn’t a limit to how many times. There isn’t a limit on the same sin. God continues to forgive the broken and contrite heart. We are to forgive EVEN AS God forgives. Forgiveness costs. Forgiveness is hard. Without forgiveness there is no relationship.

Third, forgiving self can be the hardest. We expect more of self. We remember. We won’t let things go. Even after God has forgiven us, some of us continue to beat ourselves up. We refuse to enjoy the blessings of God because we do not feel that we deserve them. We turn down the offer for the best robe, the sandals, the ring and the meal of the fattened calf. We refuse to come inside. We stay outside. We stay in the barn. We walk along with long faces and downcast eyes. We looked and feel defeated. We refuse to let it go. This is a huge issue among many of us. We do not get back to business with God because we let Him down. The problem is faith. The problem is not forgiving ourselves. The problem is not believing that God forgives.

What can we do? First, believe the Scriptures. God promises. We need to trust the promises of God. We need to see that God still believes in us. God did not throw Jonah away. He could have kept him in the belly of the whale and allowed him to be digested. No more Jonah. God could have found another prophet. He didn’t. He didn’t give up on Jonah. The same is said of Paul. The killer of Christians could have been exiled  from God’s people. He wasn’t. The same could be said of each of us. We have let God down. We have served self instead of Him. We have been cowards when we should have spoken out. We have hid our lights under the basket. God hasn’t given up on us. He hasn’t closed the door on us. He’s looking. He’s wanting to forgive. He has forgiven. Now, do we believe that?

Our sins and failures can help others from doing the same thing. We hide our sins. We don’t like to talk about them. But those very mistakes are teachable moments. They can help us to help others. We learn when we went wrong. Now forgiven. Now useful in the kingdom. Now, using those dark moments, help others.

Forgiveness is not a feeling. Not everyday as a Christian will be jumping up and down like Tigger. Some days are plain and normal. Some days are hard. Some days are lonely. Are we forgiven? Yes. Forgiveness is not based upon feelings, but faith and trust in God.  Maybe we don’t think we are forgiven, because we “don’t feel forgiven.” Forgiveness is not like love. That first, young love, you can’t eat, sleep or think about anything but the one you are in love with. Forgiveness is not like that. If you are looking for that, you’re mistaken and may never “feel forgiven.”

Forgiveness is a relationship. Sins removed, we are now one with God again. That’s the basis of forgiveness. A price was paid, the blood of Jesus, to restore us back to God. No longer enemies, no longer separate, no longer not on speaking terms, God views the forgiven as His family. We belong to Him. That is a wonderful relationship.

Also understand that I can forgive myself, but that doesn’t mean I’m right with God. I must seek the mercy of God. I can be forgiven by others. That doesn’t mean I’m right with God. I must seek to be right with God first. Before I forgive myself. Before I seek the forgiveness of others. God first. He’s the one I have hurt the most. He’s the one that I belong to. Seek God’s forgiveness. Then work on others and finally self.

Forgiveness is hard…we can do it because God said so.

Roger