Filed under: Uncategorized
Right up front, let’s be completely honest. If we are going to do this thing called “walking humbly with God” there are some things we need to deal with. Today let’s deal with this idea of forgiveness. Not the fact that you and I are forgiven, but something else. Our forgiveness of others. If we truly desire to walk humbly, we need to waive our rights to constantly be vindicated, or proved right. We need to stop waiting for those who have wronged us to come to us and ask us for our forgiveness. What is it in me, in us, that feels the need to have someone approach us and ask for forgiveness when they’ve hurt us? Is it this desire to be proved right? Is it power, stature, or something else? There comes a certain joy sometimes when someone admits to us when they’re wrong. Even if we don’t want to admit it. It makes us feel good, and maybe a tad bit superior. Am I alone in this?
But here’s the thing. Jesus didn’t wait for us to come to him to die for us. He went through the agony, pain and humiliation of the cross, so that you and I could be forgiven, long before you or I would ever live. Pure innocence paying the penalty for my future sin. Forgiveness offered long before the trespass. Thomas Merton once defined humility as this, “If you forgive a brother who has injured you before he himself asks pardon.” What a beautiful thing to think that when we come to Christ and ask for forgiveness, His response is “I’ve already forgiven you” before we can even admit it. What a beautiful thing it would be if we could forgive (truly and honestly) one another in the same way. I’m not talking about being a doormat, I’m talking about being a humble type of person that is willing to waive our right to be “right” and to forgive before the person even asks it. What would our relationships and lives look like if we lived as people who truly forgave one another like that? Bitterness would have no chance to set in, friendships would not have too many “misunderstandings” or hurt feelings. Instead we would see active grace in this idea of preconceived forgiveness. Who are you waiting on to come to you for forgiveness? Who can you forgive right now who hasn’t asked for it? What are you holding onto that you can just let go of?
Forgiveness, is beauty in action. It’s a preemptive strike on bitterness. Forgiveness leads us deeper into a humble walk with God.
