Forgiveness

It's challenging to think about forgiving people who have hurt us, isn't it? We don't want to let go of the painful memories of abuse, put-downs, broken promises, family or work offenses. One outstanding example of forgiveness occurred when Corrie Ten Boom met a former Nazi Officer who had abused her and her sister during imprisonment, assisting in the death of other prisoners. He told her he had become a Christian and proceeded to ask Corrie to forgive him. As he reached out his hand towards her, Corrie resisted. Then, in obedience to God, as she extended her hand towards him she felt the surge of the Holy Spirit pour through her in a supernatural act of forgiveness. Chuck Colson tells the story about a Mrs. Washington who, during a graduation ceremony for inmates completing a Prison Fellowship program, swept to the stage to wrap her arms around a graduating inmate, declaring, "This young man is my adopted son." Everyone had tears in their eyes for they knew that this young man was behind bars for the murder of Mrs. Washington's daughter. How could people like Corrie and Mrs.Washington endure such great injustices and then turn around to forgive the villains? Yet all they did was purely obey the command, "Forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32) Phillip Yancey wrote, "Forgiveness is another way of admitting, 'I'm human, I make mistakes, I want to be granted that privilege and so I grant you that privilege.' " Forgiveness cancels a debt someone owes us and restores relationship. It is the only solution in a world ridden with sin and evil to help us start over with people and with God. We learn about real forgiveness at the foot of the cross where Jesus Christ shed His blood to pay for the sins of the whole world. That is God's kind of forgiveness- - free, sacrificial, no cost on our part. So, how do we practically forgive someone who has hurt us? Here are some Steps to Forgivingness. Applying these steps to our lives can help deliver us from bitterness and work towards forgiveness: 1. We need to know and experience Christ's love and forgiveness deeply in our own lives. (Col. 3:13) 2. We can make the choice to forgive. When Corrie Ten Boom extended her hand to the former Nazi officer, she did it choosing to follow Christ versus her feelings. Paul writes in Eph 4:31-32, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (NIV) 3. Phil. 4:8, 13 show us that Christ can help us overcome negative thoughts and beliefs which block forgiveness. We can ask Him to soften our hearts and change our minds towards that person, granting us the power to forgive him/her. 4 When it's still hard to forgive, we can place our trust in God Who will someday judge all the wrongs in the world. We can leave revenge and justice up to Him. Proverbs 20:22 says, "Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord, and He will deliver you." Paul writes in Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord'." God, Himself, is the power behind our ability to forgive. He can enable us to do the impossible, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose". (Phil 2:13) Perhaps the most powerful outcome of forgiveness is that it changes and enables us to become more like Christ Who said as He hung dying on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." God's love and grace is the power behind forgiveness, granting us supernatural power to forgive others, the power to overcome resentment, the power to redeem relationships and show God's love to a hurting world. My prayer for you today is that you will first come to know the love and forgiveness of our heavenly Father and then pass on that forgiveness to those who have hurt you. I pray that we can find it in our hearts to forgive this young man who took the lives of so many at Virginia Tech for his actions.