God's Measure for Forgiveness
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15
Perhaps you consider yourself a forgiving person, but are now facing someone whom you cannot forgive. Whenever you struggle to forgive, you need to revisit what you were like when God first forgave you. Ephesians 2 indicates that you were a "foreigner" and a "child of wrath." Yet God forgave your most grievous sin and rebellion against Him. While you were still rejecting God, Christ died for you (Rom. 5:8). This being so, how can you refuse to forgive those who sin against you? Forgiveness is not a spiritual gift, a skill, or an inherited trait. Forgiveness is a choice. Jesus looked down on those who had ruthlessly and mockingly nailed Him to a cross, yet He cried out: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). How then can we refuse to forgive those who have committed offenses against us?
Jesus said that the measure in which we are forgiving is the same standard God will use in forgiving us. God's ways are very different from ours. God's forgiveness is not based on standards we determine, but on the standards He established in His word. God allows for no exceptions when it comes to forgiveness.
As we truly understand God's gracious forgiveness in our lives, we will naturally want to express this same forgiveness to others (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13). Before you ask God for His forgiveness, take a moment to examine the condition of your relationships. Would you want God to forgive you in the same way you are presently forgiving others?
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Today's devotional is especially eye-opening for me. Although I've heard and read the same exact concept at least a dozen times, and have thought about it at least to some extent, I don't believe I've ever actually given it the amount of thought that it deserves. I know the principle well, it's been drilled into my head over the years, especially lately: if you don't forgive, you aren't forgiven. As daunting as that sounds I guess it just hasn't been enough for me to really snap out of this whole grudge holding stupor. I'm not sure what it is, if it's the one thing in my life that I really have control over, if it's something subconscious that I just can't let go of, or if it's some other ridiculous or selfish reason. But I know that I need to give it more thought.
I know that forgiveness is a choice, what I'm not sure of is exactly how to go about doing it. I know that at least part of me wants to. I want to forgive my husband, even for things that he continues to do. I want to forgive the girl he was involved with. I keep saying that I do, I keep thinking that I do but sooner or later when I sit down and think about it I still have negative thoughts about her. When her name randomly pops into my head I still feel a flash of intense anger and I know that means that I have not yet reached forgiveness. I do know one thing, my answer to the last question posed in this devotional. And it's a resounding "no." If God forgave me in the same way that I've been forgiving, I'd be on the fast track to hell.
So what to do? I suppose this is one of those things that I need to sit down and pray about intensely. It's one of those things that I'm really going to have to think through and pick apart. Today, I think, is the first time I've truly understood this. And maybe I still don't completely understand it, but this is the first time I've understood it this way. It's the first time I've had that question asked of me, "Would you want God to forgive you in the same way you are presently forgiving other?" That one simple question has broken through my cloudy thoughts and struck something in my mind. It's started a whole new thought process about this concept. I don't want to remain unforgiven, so what right do I have to continue holding grudges against these people? Who am I? Am I better than God to believe that even when he has forgiven them, I reserve the right not to? I am not, and essentially that is what I'm saying by holding on to these grudges so tightly that my knuckles are white. "I'm better than God." How humbling this devotional has been for me, how eye-opening and thought provoking.
I think God has intentionally drawn focus to this aspect of my life. I've been praying for lots of things, for lots of people. But one of the main things I need to pray for is for the willingness and strength I need to forgive the people who have hurt me. I am not better than God, and I know that. So it's probably about time that I start acting like it.
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses." Matthew 6:14-15
Perhaps you consider yourself a forgiving person, but are now facing someone whom you cannot forgive. Whenever you struggle to forgive, you need to revisit what you were like when God first forgave you. Ephesians 2 indicates that you were a "foreigner" and a "child of wrath." Yet God forgave your most grievous sin and rebellion against Him. While you were still rejecting God, Christ died for you (Rom. 5:8). This being so, how can you refuse to forgive those who sin against you? Forgiveness is not a spiritual gift, a skill, or an inherited trait. Forgiveness is a choice. Jesus looked down on those who had ruthlessly and mockingly nailed Him to a cross, yet He cried out: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). How then can we refuse to forgive those who have committed offenses against us?
Jesus said that the measure in which we are forgiving is the same standard God will use in forgiving us. God's ways are very different from ours. God's forgiveness is not based on standards we determine, but on the standards He established in His word. God allows for no exceptions when it comes to forgiveness.
As we truly understand God's gracious forgiveness in our lives, we will naturally want to express this same forgiveness to others (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13). Before you ask God for His forgiveness, take a moment to examine the condition of your relationships. Would you want God to forgive you in the same way you are presently forgiving others?
***************************************************
Today's devotional is especially eye-opening for me. Although I've heard and read the same exact concept at least a dozen times, and have thought about it at least to some extent, I don't believe I've ever actually given it the amount of thought that it deserves. I know the principle well, it's been drilled into my head over the years, especially lately: if you don't forgive, you aren't forgiven. As daunting as that sounds I guess it just hasn't been enough for me to really snap out of this whole grudge holding stupor. I'm not sure what it is, if it's the one thing in my life that I really have control over, if it's something subconscious that I just can't let go of, or if it's some other ridiculous or selfish reason. But I know that I need to give it more thought.
I know that forgiveness is a choice, what I'm not sure of is exactly how to go about doing it. I know that at least part of me wants to. I want to forgive my husband, even for things that he continues to do. I want to forgive the girl he was involved with. I keep saying that I do, I keep thinking that I do but sooner or later when I sit down and think about it I still have negative thoughts about her. When her name randomly pops into my head I still feel a flash of intense anger and I know that means that I have not yet reached forgiveness. I do know one thing, my answer to the last question posed in this devotional. And it's a resounding "no." If God forgave me in the same way that I've been forgiving, I'd be on the fast track to hell.
So what to do? I suppose this is one of those things that I need to sit down and pray about intensely. It's one of those things that I'm really going to have to think through and pick apart. Today, I think, is the first time I've truly understood this. And maybe I still don't completely understand it, but this is the first time I've understood it this way. It's the first time I've had that question asked of me, "Would you want God to forgive you in the same way you are presently forgiving other?" That one simple question has broken through my cloudy thoughts and struck something in my mind. It's started a whole new thought process about this concept. I don't want to remain unforgiven, so what right do I have to continue holding grudges against these people? Who am I? Am I better than God to believe that even when he has forgiven them, I reserve the right not to? I am not, and essentially that is what I'm saying by holding on to these grudges so tightly that my knuckles are white. "I'm better than God." How humbling this devotional has been for me, how eye-opening and thought provoking.
I think God has intentionally drawn focus to this aspect of my life. I've been praying for lots of things, for lots of people. But one of the main things I need to pray for is for the willingness and strength I need to forgive the people who have hurt me. I am not better than God, and I know that. So it's probably about time that I start acting like it.
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