Before You ForgiveSample

Before we proceed, it would be helpful to ensure we're on the same page about forgiveness. My best attempt to define forgiveness is giving up my pursuit of revenge and trusting God to bring justice.

You'll notice a few things that aren't present in that definition.

Forgiveness is not reconciliation. Forgiveness is not forgetting something that happened, another myth people often believe. Forgiveness is not pretending you weren't hurt.

Forgiveness is saying, "I'm no longer going to try to get you back for what you did to me. I'm going to stop being judge, jury, and executioner. I'm going to trust God to bring justice."

I love how Jesus practiced forgiveness toward His enemies and friends.

In Luke 23, while hanging on the cross, He says, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Jesus forgave the very people who carried out His execution. That's expert-level forgiveness!

Jesus also forgave His friends. Remember how all His apostles abandoned Him in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was arrested? During His trial, the Apostle Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times. In Luke 22, we read that Jesus looked directly at Peter as Peter declared that he wanted nothing to do with Him.

After the resurrection, the disciples went fishing, which was their job before they became followers of Jesus. Jesus called them from the seashore, leading them to a great fish catch. Peter discovered that it was Jesus and ran to him.

After the disciples pulled the fish to the shore, Jesus shared a meal with His disciples. He pulled Peter aside to have a conversation with him. The last time they had a private moment together, Peter had not been the kind of friend he needed to be to Jesus.

I want you to imagine you're having a similar conversation with Jesus. Ever feel like you've disappointed Jesus? Wondered if He feels betrayed by you? Passed on an opportunity to do the right thing because it was inconvenient for you? Then you know how Peter felt when he and Jesus strolled along the water.

But the walk wasn't one of shame and condemnation. Along the side of the lake, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him three times, mirroring the three times Peter denied knowing Jesus. Just as He forgave those who nailed Him to the cross, Jesus forgave one of His closest disciples.

We can forgive others who have hurt us because Jesus forgave us. We all have a person who has hurt us, and we have fallen short of God's standards. Our ability to forgive others is based on the forgiveness we've received.

I'm reinforcing this plan's big idea because many struggle with forgiveness. After all, we try to forgive in our power and strength. Perhaps you know forgiveness honors God, but you keep working to find the strength. If you were going to forgive that person in your power, wouldn't you have already done so by now?

What if the source to forgive others comes from the forgiveness you received? Then, we would need to face our own need to be forgiven. That's where we'll begin on the next day of this plan.