Forgiveness vs. Unforgiveness

9/23/2011

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Bible verse of the day: Matthew 18:21-22 " Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, " I tell you, not seven times, but seventy- seven times."

We live in a very vindictive world, where people want revenge against those they feel have done them wrong. I saw the other day that ABC will air a new television show beginning this fall called "Someone Has To Pay." That pretty much sums up the way we tend to respond to most of the situations in our lives when we feel cheated out of something that should have been ours. It could be that someone else got credit for the effort you put into a work project. It could be a promotion that came to a co-worker when you were clearly more deserving. It could be someone getting ahead because of deceitful actions. It could be a sense of abandonment from a spouse or parent. Whatever the trigger is, there are times in our lives when we feel sheer anger and we want revenge. But the bible teaches the other side of vengeance and anger when dealing with slights. In the bible verse of the day, Jesus is telling Peter that we must forgive those who sin against us an infinite amount of times. I believe the point of this teaching is that because all of our sins have been forgiven in and through Christ, we must also forgive those people who have sinned against us in the same manner. The issue is really our heart. Do we have a forgiving heart, because we who have been forgiven much should also be able to forgive much. If we don't forgive others, the lack of forgiveness can cause us much more harm than the sinful act itself. Unresolved anger leads us out of fellowship with the Holy Spirit and into a whole slew of sinful responses. Not only that, but Jesus warns us many times that unresolved anger can fester in our bodies and lead to physical and emotionally sickness. We will be distracted and depleted in trying to seek our revenge. In the movie the Love Guru, with Mike Myers, he plays an Eastern Love Guru who uses the comedic line, "an eye for and eye leaves everybody blind." But there is so much truth in that statement. Jesus spent much of his time teaching about this subject in the Sermon on the Mount, " You have heard it was said Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I tell you do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well." Some of Jesus's most challenging teachings took place in the Sermon on the Mount. He was getting at issues that were inherently flawed in our human nature. Our need for revenge and to get even make us suffer all the more. Instead, our hearts need to be softened and our focus needs to be on him. God will make all things right in the end, it is not for us to worry about, for He is the ultimate scorekeeper. Matthew 7:1-3 warns us against judging others " Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" So we really need to let go of our unforgiveness for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is when we put ourselves in position of judge, jury and executioner, in reality we are calling in friendly fire on our own position. God will judge, we should forgive. I recently became aware of the unforgiveness that had resided in my heart for over 30 years regarding my relationship with my father. I thought I had forgiven him long ago, but the Lord showed me the difference between forgiveness in the mind and true forgiveness in the heart. This revelation freed me up from the pain I was still carrying inside and gave me a chance to see what true forgiveness looks like. Although on this side of heaven we will never be able to fully grasp just how much we have been forgiven in Christ, feeling what that looks like in my own heart led to an emotional freedom that I had been seeking, with out fully knowing it or how to fix it. It was a very cathartic experience and helped me begin to understand the depth of my own sin in relationship to judgement and the need to truly forgive. Let go and let God finally made sense. I actually felt it in my physical body. Jesus taught so much about forgiveness because He realized how much pain it can cause us if we don't forgive. It was out of love that he spent so much time focusing on this subject. If we stop a moment to think about our worldly views on forgiveness vs. His teachings, we will see the giant chasm that exists between the two. I found that like everything He taught, the tougher the subject matter, the greater the impact if we get it right. True freedom and wisdom comes from following His path and not our own. Let go and let God. There is an abundance of freedom in that!