Frequently Asked Questions About Forgiveness
It is not uncommon for Christians to have questions about
forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come easy for most of us. Our
natural instinct is to recoil in self-protection when we've been
injured. We don't naturally overflow with mercy, grace and
forgiveness when we've been wronged.
Is forgiveness a conscious choice, a physical act involving the
will, or is it a feeling, an emotional state of being? The Bible
offers insight and answers to these and many more common questions
about forgiveness. We'll take a look at the most common questions
and find out what the Bible says about forgiveness.
I believe forgiveness is a choice we make through a decision of
our will, motivated by obedience to God and his command to
forgive.
The Bible instructs us to forgive as the Lord forgave us:
We forgive by faith, out of
obedience. Since forgiveness goes against our nature, we must
forgive by faith, whether we feel like it or not. We must trust God
to do the work in us that needs to be done so that the forgiveness
will be complete.
I believe God honors our commitment to obey Him and our desire
to please him when we choose to forgive. He completes the work in
his time. We must continue to forgive (our job), by faith, until
the work of forgiveness (the Lord's job), is done in our
hearts.
Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who survived a Nazi
concentration camp during the Holocaust, said, "Forgiveness is to
set a prisoner free, and to realize the prisoner was you."
We will know the work of forgiveness is complete when we
experience the freedom that comes as a result. We are the ones who
suffer most when we choose not to forgive. When we do forgive, the
Lord sets our hearts free from the anger, bitterness, resentment and hurt
that previously imprisoned us.
Most times, however, forgiveness is a slow process.
This answer by Jesus makes it clear that forgiveness is not easy
for us. It's not a one-time choice and then we automatically live
in a state of forgiveness. Forgiveness may require a lifetime of
forgiving, but it is important to the Lord. We must continue
forgiving until the matter is settled in our heart.
I have found that prayer is one of the best ways
to break down the wall of unforgiveness in my heart. When I begin
to pray for the person who has wronged me, God gives me new eyes to
see and a new heart to care for that person. As I pray, I start to
see that person as God sees them, and I realize that he or she is
precious to the Lord. I also see myself in a new light, just as
guilty of sin and failure as the other person. I too am in need of
forgiveness. If God did not withhold his forgiveness from me, why
should I withhold my forgiveness from another?
This question presents another reason to pray for the person we
need to forgive. We can pray for God to deal with the injustices,
for God to judge the person's life, and then we can leave that
prayer at the altar. We no longer have to carry the anger. Although
it is normal for us to feel anger toward sin and injustice, it is
not our job to judge the other person in their sin.
The best reason to forgive is because Jesus commanded us to
forgive. We learn from Scripture, if we don't forgive, neither will
we be forgiven:
We also forgive so that our prayers will not be hindered:
In summary and in closing, we forgive out of obedience to the
Lord. It is a choice, a decision we make. However, as we do this
"forgiving," we discover the command is in place for our own good,
and we receive the reward of our forgiveness -
freedom.<!--/gc-->