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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.
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It’s very coincidental that I’m reading this and listening to “Misery Buisness” by Paramore. Essentially, what’s said in the song is that second chances “don’t mater” that people “never change.” Now, although the tune is very well put together, I notice that this appeals more to indulging the audience in self-rightous thoughts rather than progress. This is contrary to my own belief (and, I believe to God’s as well): that forgiveness and love can change the world, just like this awesome devotional says. It’d be awesome to see how a song devoted to progress could change the world if such a well-writen pesimistic song could give a band so much fame.
Comment by Josh January 29, 2008 @ 3:21 pmThis is a very ironic topic for me to ready today because it just so happens my family is doing the walk through the new testament. and i was reading chapter eleven of Mark last night this verse sat on my heart “When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins.” Right then i realized that many people have hurt me in my life and i don’t think i have forgiven alot of them. So i stopped and i just prayed to God to help me forgive them and i gave all my anger to God so he could take it away! I think that this blog is just a little reminder from Him that Forgiveness is a good thing and i need to try and do it alittle bit more.
Comment by Dancing4theLord January 31, 2008 @ 4:14 pmThis is hard for me also because I tell people that I forgive them, but it is much harder for me to actually forgive them. I know God is flawless with this because every time someone sins, he instantly erases it from his memory the moment the sin occurs. and I wish I could be like him so much -in that way. But, how can I if I can’t even forgive people in the first place?
Comment by livingforGod February 7, 2008 @ 3:35 pmRemember that even though we are saved and forgiven, we still need to confess to God. James tells us that confession brings healing. Even though God has forgiven us, we still need to come to Him and seek forgiveness, if we don’t the sin can sit and fester and clog up our relationship with Him and hinder the work He wants to do in us and through us!
Comment by Kerry February 7, 2008 @ 4:09 pmOh my gosh! I just want to say that someone who really inspires me is Warren Barfield. His lyrics motivate me every day to just keep on living life the way God wants me to. One of his songs gets to me every day that I listen to it-and I listen to it every morning before school. It’s entitled Grace and it says this: “I’ve messed up so many times. It’s my past that I’m haunted by. If I’m ever going to truly live, Grace I must accept, grace I must give. We all need forgiveness. We all need just one more chance. We all need to be given grace. Are you giving forgiveness?” I just really like this song and it kind of ties into what we’re talking about with forgiveness. so..yah.
Comment by LivingForGod February 11, 2008 @ 5:49 pmIf you look around you so many people are angry because they are holding a grudge on someone and/or they are waiting for someone to say sorry. I am not perfect and I have done these very same things, but I realized after sometime that you waste so much of your life being angry with someone that you loose yourself and you don’t enjoy life. I know that there are times that situations feel unforgivable, but in Jesus’ eyes even murder is forgiven, so why can we forgive? It took me some time to forgive someone that did something horrible to me, but after I realized that I wasted so much time being angry at that person, and it only make me miserable. Now I do forgive people for what they do to me, BUT I am not a doormat. You can forgive someone and seperate your self for them after they are forgiven if you do not want to get hurt again, but be reasonable and think about if you vaule the friendship or not.
Comment by WalkingforJesus March 3, 2008 @ 5:18 pmI love topics like this because it is so revelvant that we all think to ourselves upon reading, “How ironic!” I certainly am not the exception and have had this topic pressed upon my heart strongly this weekend. The realization I came to is that there are two sides to every story. For instance, I have recently found myself doing a multitude of things that I had become resentful about when others did them to me (ie: switching friend groups, or trying to straddle more than one group). But now that I have seen both sides of the fence, I realize that although my previous points may have been legitimate to my feelings, it is not something worth holding a grudge over. I think that much of the anger that people hold toward one another is simply because they can’t see outside their own feelings. While it is a good thing that I have now gooten past my frustrations, I wish I would have employed God’s grace sooner and had the self control to humble myself before I was slapped in the face with the opposing view.
Comment by Arielle May 5, 2008 @ 9:40 pm