Christianity 101: Forgiveness - Our Response to God's Grace

But love your enemies, do good to them…”
Luke 6:35

“I forgive you.”  These three words are God’s response to our sin, thanks to grace.  These three words are also what we are called to say and do in response to all others!  But as the saying goes, easier said than done.

All of us have been hurt.  We’ve all been wronged.  Some of us in terrible, horrible ways!  Yet, God calls us to love and forgive those who’ve hurt us.  But why?  Why would God want you to forgive the very person or people who’ve caused pain and heartache in your life?  Surely if God understood what was done and how bad it hurt, He would understand and not ask this, right?  Wrong.  It is exactly because God does know, and does understand that He calls us to love our enemies (even do good to them) and most importantly to forgive. 

Looking at Jesus' teaching in Luke 6:27-36, it seems clear that he was talking about loving and forgiving not just the people who hurt us a little, but also those who hurt us a lot.  The key is in the word translated "slaps" (Gk. tupto), which can mean a whole host of things including to strike, to beat, and to smite!  Furthermore this one word can imply being struck with a hand, a fist, a rod, or even a whip.  It's clear by this word usage that Jesus had in mind a whole world of possible hurts that could be inflicted.  So again, are you to forgive only those who hurt you a little or all who hurt you?

At this point you may still be asking what's in it for me.  In other words, why should you forgive a person that's hurt you.  A quick look at the story of Jonah illustrates this nicely.  Jonah was called to Nineveh, but because he was angry and unwilling to forgive what they had done to the people of Israel, he went in the opposite direction. This led to Jonah being thrown overboard, and swallowed by a giant fish, only to be spit up on the shores of Nineveh.  The most telling passage may be found here where Jonah essentially would rather die than see good come to the people of Nineveh!  This is all because he's unwilling to forgive them.  

This is why you should forgive.  If you hold a grudge, if you don't forgive, you're not hurting that person, you're hurting yourself.  By not forgiving, you become a prisoner to your own anger.  It is precisely for this reason that God models forgiveness for us (in the person of Jesus) and then calls us to love and forgive everyone, especially our enemies and those who've hurt us!

So will you forgive today?