The Issue of Forgiveness
- Part 1
by Pastor Bill Pevlor
I don’t know you personally, but I do know something about you. I know
that dealing with people is one of the greatest challenges in your life. At one
time or another, I know you’ve had to deal with people who were mean, cranky,
obstinate, overbearing, and downright ornery. You’ve also had to deal with
people who were rude, crude, brash, insensitive, and thoughtless. I know, in
your life, you’ve had to deal with people who have stolen from you, betrayed
you, lied to you, cheated you, blamed you, stabbed you in the back, spread
vicious rumors about you and never paid back the money you lent them. (I hate it
when that happens!)
These people can be the people you work with or work for. Some of them
are (or were) your good friends. Some were strangers, your parents, or your
children. You may have been married to them. You may be married to them now.
There is no getting away from them; they are everywhere.
Because people can be so rotten, we are continually faced with the issue
of forgiveness. When others do us wrong we have a choice to make. We can harbor
the hurt feelings, anger, bitterness and resentment in our heart toward them ,
or we can forgive them. The choice you make will greatly affect your personal
well being as well as your relationship with that person. And something else
most people don’t realize, it will also affect your relationship with God.
One of the central themes of the entire Bible is “forgiveness.” In
the New Testament forgiveness comes from the Greek word “aphiemi.” It simply
means to release someone from punishment for some wrongdoing. The New Testament
alone contains 142 references to this word. Of these, 129 are located in the
Gospels. So, you can see that forgiveness was a central theme in the ministry of
Christ.
When Jesus instructed the disciples how to pray, part of the prayer He
prayed dealt with forgiveness. Jesus said, “Forgive us our debts (or
trespasses) as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12).
After giving this prayer example (known as The Lord’s Prayer) He commented
about the line concerning forgiveness in Matthew 6, verse 14 and 15: “For
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.”
Now there’s a sobering thought. If I don’t forgive the people who have done me wrong, God will not forgive me for the wrong I have done. That puts a whole new light on holding a grudge, doesn’t it? All of the sudden the philosophy of “don’t get mad, get even” loses a lot of its appeal.
The concept of God expecting you to forgive if you want to be forgiven
is, what the Bible calls, a “hard teaching.” It is “hard” because
we’ve been raised on the philosophy of revenge; “an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.” We feel it’s our duty and our right to bring judgment
and punishment upon those who treat us wrong. Sure, we believe forgiveness is a
lovely idea, as long as we’re not the ones who have to forgive.
The Apostle Peter asked Jesus “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” I’m sure Peter thought
he was being generous. After all, after two or three times most people would
slam the door on forgiving an offender. Peter was willing to go the extra mile;
to be used, abused and mistreated up to seven times. Jesus answered him “I
tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Mat. 18:21-22).
My lightning fast calculator tells me seventy times seven is 490! The
shear magnitude of the number reveals Jesus’ intent was not to give us a
destination where forgiveness ends, but to instead, clearly imply there is no
limit when it comes to our need to forgive others.
That should spark enough thought to take you through the week. Next week we will continue to explore the important biblical subject of forgiveness.
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Faith Ministries
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Phone: 920-487-5775
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