There is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part. You forfeit grace and forgiveness for yourself.
Forgiveness is a doorway. When we walk through that door, a measure of grace is released. In extending forgiveness to the one who wronged me, I no longer take responsibility for the outcome of that person’s actions. It does not matter if I never see justice. It does not matter if the person continues to refuse grace.
As stated in Deut. 32 – a passage known as The Song of Moses, Moses writes about the enemies of Israel:
The LORD says… “I will take revenge. I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive and their destiny will overtake them. Indeed, the LORD will give justice to his people.”
Deuteronomy 32:34-36a
As believers, we are required to forgive.
Forgiveness does not mean stay in an abusive relationship. Forgiveness does not condone wrongs. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting a wrong. It simply releases the responsibility of vengeance. Of getting even, payback.
It means letting go of a wrong done to me so that healing can take place. I forgive, not for the perpetrator, but for my own sake.
When it comes to healing a wounded soul, nothing is more critical than the subject of forgiveness.
How can I extend forgiveness if I have not received, understood, and live out God’s unconditional grace and forgiveness?
Unforgiveness blinds us. Unforgiveness hardens the heart. Wounded people wound other people.
We cannot afford the price of unforgiveness.
Last week I was in a situation where I had been deeply wronged. I felt violated to a degree I’d never experienced. I couldn’t sleep. I was furious and full of anger. I walked in this haze of anger for a few days before I realized that “I’m not processing this well. I need help.”
I called a friend who heard me out, allowed me to vent. She then spoke truth, clarity, and life into the situation. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt the fog begin to clear. I finally recognized the path out. It was exactly what Holy Spirit had twice whispered to me throughout the week. ‘Forgive. Forgive, even as you have been forgiven.’
Jesus told me: “I suffered injustice. I was violated on multiple levels. Yet I bore the sins of the world on the cross. Those sins were also your sins, daughter. And I forgave. For the joy that was set before me, I forgave.” (Hebrews 12:2)
In the song Sparrows, by Cory Asbury, there is a phrase which has burrowed in my mind:
“A heart that’s planted in forgiveness doesn’t dwell in the past.”
This is life. This is healing. This is freedom – forgiveness.