A Bit More on Forgiveness

July 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
[Yes, I know I made a typo yesterday; looser should have been loser! Sorry but I ain’t perfect and I am old, not to mention that I wear trifocals, so be patient with me!]
Jesus said some things about forgiveness that for the life of me I have never been able to fully understand. I want to offer a few of them, so you can explain them to me:
1. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mat-thew 6:12 NASB). Hmmm. As we also have . . .? Careful!
2. “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions” (Mark 11:25-26 NASB). Oh my! If we do not, neither will He?
3. “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4 NASB). Do we really?
4. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4 NASB). A piece of cake!
You know, this notion of forgiveness just might be a bit more important than we think! Maybe we have been too busy focusing on keeping the Sabbath holy, instead of focusing on forgiving one another. Maybe we have been too busy judging one another, instead of forgiving one another. Maybe we have been too busy keeping an account of wrongs suffered, instead of forgiving one another. Maybe we are all so sick that we enjoy being en-slaved to those who offend us. As I said yesterday, there is but one way out; yep, just one way. Fight it all you wish, but you will lose—I promise.
There is no cancer as aggressive and deadly as the cancer of “unforgiveness,” and, I might add, there is but one cure; yep, just one.