The Revolutionary Power Of Forgiveness

Do we really need that scripture to inform us of that? I knew it before I ever read that passage. Or at least I knew I sinned. I figured the rest of you were all angels.

Rabbi David A. Nelson likes to tell the story of two brothers who went to their rabbi to settle a longstanding feud. The rabbi got the two to reconcile their differences and shake hands. As they were about to leave, he asked each one to make a wish for the other in honor of the Jewish New Year. The first brother turned to the other and said, "I wish you what you wish me." At that, the second brother threw up his hands and said, "See, Rabbi, he’s starting up again!"

We all sin. And, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you have received Him by faith and trusted in his sacrificial death on the cross for you...you have been forgiven every sin you ever imagined or ever committed.

This might not be too pleasant, but stop for a second and just think about a few of the sins you’ve done...the biggies. Now think about the reality of God’s forgiveness that you have received through Jesus Christ.

“But that’s God, forgiving me. I’m a person. I can’t forgive a person their offense against me!!!” Apparently Jesus knew that we would have this objection.

John 20:23a" "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven".

And

Matthew 6:14-15: “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”.

O.K. So the truth is, as Christians we can find the grace to forgive. Note that the point is that if we do not forgive we are not forgiven.

I truly believe forgiveness is essential to the building of a community of faith. It is not optional, it is not an add-on that I can ignore if it suites me.

And we want our community, our church to grow...to deepen in our commitment to God, to deepen our roots in Christ. To do that, we need to go where God’s Word takes us, even if it smarts a bit.

When we forgive others it is evidence that we get how much we’ve been forgiven by God. When we forgive others it helps us to know that we get the importance of the forgiveness we ourselves have received from God.

When we are a forgiving people, our pasts loose their strangle-hold on the present and we are free to follow God without the chains and bitterness and malice choking our every thought and action.

Forgiveness is a funny thing; it warms the heart and cools the sting.

The Power of Forgiveness

Not long before she died in 1988, in a moment of surprising honesty on television, Marghanita Laski, one of the best-known atheists and novelists, said, "What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me."

There’s a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper.