I Searched for Justice, but Found LoveSample

What is forgiveness? (2)

“…and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Yesterday we saw a great example of Jesus forgiving without anyone saying "sorry" or asking for forgiveness. In this example we see something of what forgiveness really means.

Forgiveness is really a unilateral decision to stop blaming the other person for his or her mistake. "Wait a minute, stop," you say, "I can't, and I won't let you walk all over me. Forgiveness can't just be 'pouring sand over it,' can it? Like it doesn't matter what the other person did?"

And that's right. Forgiveness is not like "sand over it," and when you forgive, you're not saying it wasn't that bad. I will add to the definition I gave earlier. Forgiveness is the unilateral decision to suffer the pain of the injustice done to you and to stop blaming the other person for his or her mistake.

"That's even worse," you might say. "The other person is getting away with it." To both of these comments I say no. It’s not worse, and the other person won’t get away with it easily. It’s not over with this one-sided decision. There is much more to come. I hope you will be patient and read on. In the meantime, let's look at someone who understood exactly what Jesus did on the cross. Stephen was stoned to death for his faith. Can you imagine it? What goes through your mind and what does it mean physically? And this Stephen prayed the same prayer, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Stephen knew the secret of the power and glory of forgiveness. How do you see the example of Stephen? Unlike Jesus, he was just an ordinary man...