Learning to Forgive

The old man creeps down the street in his truck and I fuss. Doesn't he know people are in a hurry? I get distracted and pull out in front of someone, causing them to honk their horn. Good grief, can't they be patient? It's funny how we expect others to forgive us, but we get angry about the very same things with others.  The previous examples were just everyday situations with no long term consequences, but what if someone wrongs us in a way that is more serious? We may put it behind us, but can we forgive them? What if they have harmed us or someone we love? Would we be able to follow the words of Luke 6? 

Luke 6:35, 37-38 ESV - 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ... 37 "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."

These are hard words. How do we love our enemies and do good to them? We have to first forgive them. God forgives us, even though it is our sin that condemned His Son to the cross. And not only does God forgive us, but also: "According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)." Doesn't that sound wonderful? An Inheritance that is secure and kept for us by God Himself. Who are we to spit upon that great gift and refuse forgiveness to others.

Ephesians expands on the beauty of the inheritance of Christ followers: Ephesians 2:4-8 ESV - 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

It is these very thoughts that worked their way into my current work in progress, Not Quite Mr. Darcy, and also my last book, More than Fine (free on wattpad). In both stories my main characters have had to grapple with how to forgive sins against them that seem impossible to forgive. Though you may not be burdened with those who have sinned against you in the same ways my books portray, surely you have those you have struggled to forgive. My hope in these books is that you will see how the power of Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives can help us overcome what would be impossible on our own.

The next verses from the 1 Peter 1 passage above say: In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV

With these things in mind, can we forgive, love, and bless? 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV - "But he (the Lord) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."