The Testimony of Forgiveness

"If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with You there is forgiveness;

therefore You are feared."

Psalm 130.3-4

What does forgiveness do? Think about it: we've sinned against God, breaking relationship with Him. As we seek forgiveness, we recognize and take ownership of our faults.

It is interesting that one result of forgiveness is interpreted above as "You [God] are feared." This fear is the Hebrew word yare, which means both to be afraid and to respect. When used in relation to God, this word tends to mean to honor, respect, and hold in awe.

Let's consider this: when another person sins against us, regardless of the size of the offense, what does it say about our faith if we do not forgive? Do we then live up to our claim to truly be disciples of a forgiving God? But if instead we are able to forgive even the greatest offenses against us, we are witnesses to the fact that we know what true forgiveness is because we have learned it through our relationship with God. Thus, our forgiveness and desire for reconciliation with others becomes part of our witness to the majesty of God. Instead of being viewed as unforgiving hypocrites, people are able to see the work of God in us through forgiveness: in other words, our act of forgiveness can show Him to others. Through seeing His Spirit of redemptive power present in us, they themselves can be drawn to Him!

Bibliography

Goodrick, Edward W. and John R. Kohlenberger. Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999. Print.

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

It's Time

Brothers and sisters, let me begin this post by telling you I am going to step on some toes. Rest assured, as I have been meditating on these Scriptures, it happened to me too. But, as the title says, it's time...

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Matthew 6.14-15

This passage comes immediately after Jesus teaches His disciples the Model Prayer. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors," He teaches them to pray (Mt. 6.12). But if we're going to be completely honest, we don't always want to forgive. We've been hurt too bad, they've crossed the line one too many times, and so the list goes on and on...

However, if we are serious about being Christ's disciples, we must be serious about the issue of forgiveness. This may be against members of our family, against friends, or even against the Church. Certainly something happened to disrupt our relationship: our hurt is real. But God does not model holding a grudge: He deals justly with sin, yes, but He [the injured party] initiated the process of reconciliation [restoration of our relationship] with the ones who had wounded Him [us]. As such, we cannot truly claim that we are striving to follow Christ if we are not willing to seek restoration, whatever the cause of the injury may have been.

Thankfully, Christ offers us guidance on how to do this. Over the course of this new month, we will be exploring further the work and teachings of Christ on this topic. My prayer, brothers and sisters, is that we could be peacemakers, seeking restoration with those around us.

Bibliography

 

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.