Forgive Others

In the ambulance as he prayed through the Lord’s Prayer, the second place he got stuck was on forgiving others. The reason? He’d experienced the callousness of people in the preceding hours. When Ian had been stung out to sea, he was abandoned by the fisherman on the beach. He begged some taxi drivers for a lift. They laughed him off. Then one driver gave him a lift, but when he realized that Ian had no money to pay, he kicked him out of the taxi! When his semi-paralyzed body lay outside a hotel, some locals teased him though it was clear enough he was dying. Yet God insisted that Ian forgive the very men who had just treated him so heartlessly.

Read Matthew 6:9-14.

‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’ (v12). Such easy words to say, but difficult words to act on. Forgiveness sets us free from bitterness. Bitterness damages our relationship with God. By nursing the sin of bitterness against another, we can’t enjoy God’s closeness; we can’t reflect His heart; we can’t feel His mercy toward us. We’re like a tap. If we don’t open up God’s forgiveness to flow from us to others, we stop experiencing the joy of His forgiveness flowing into us (v14). Also, resentment damages ourselves. Unforgiveness is like eating poison, hoping the other person gets sick. Bitterness makes it possible every day to feel anew the pain of someone’s wrong against us – even years after the event.

Forgiveness sets us free. Free to love God and others and receive the love of God and others. Forgiveness isn’t quick and easy. Sometimes we have to repeatedly forgive someone for a single thing they did. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It’s a choice. Forgiveness doesn’t take away all the pain. Pain heals over time, but at least forgiveness will get that healing process underway. Sometimes forgiveness seems impossible. We need power to do it. Nothing empowers our forgiving of others more than pondering God’s blood-bought forgiveness of us (v12).

What are you freshly needing God’s forgiveness for? Is there anyone you need to forgive right here and now?