Living to Forgive... no matter what!

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You will often hear people say... “there's no time like the present”. I’ve often said that to my daughters, who evidently do not comprehend what I’m saying. Early bird gets the worm! That one gets frowns, turned up noses, scrunched faces and... “Mom, Dad’s saying weird things again.”

Mark Twain once said... “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” Or how about this one.... Honey, weren't you going to take down the Christmas lights this weekend?' 'No, Next weekend, Dear! Never put off till tomorrow what you can put off till next weekend… or some “future” weekend!'

I’ve always believed that it is far better to do something now than to leave it for later. But I’m not as good at it as I know I should be. Weeds are growing in the flower beds... maybe next weekend I’ll pull ‘em. Clearly if I leave such chores for later... they might never get done.

Human nature seems to dovetail very nicely with these humorous expressions. We delay decisions, especially those that we expect to be troublesome and burdensome in some way. We postpone delivering unpleasant or bad news as long as we can. And all of us professional “couch potatoes” are well versed in various forms of delaying until another day the chores that need to be done now. We procrastinate about most everything in our lives at one time or another. Sometimes what we delay can have far-reaching consequences. Such as saving for retirement… “we'll start next year, or the year after”. Planning for the kids college education… “they're young, let's worry about that when they're a bit older”.

You get the idea. We humans seem to be masters at putting off until tomorrow things that need our attention immediately. Some things in living the Christian life can’t be put off. Forgiveness is one of those things. Forgiving one another can’t be put off.

Forgiveness requires reaching out to someone we’ve offended or who has offended us. Doing it now... not later.

As Christians, we are certainly awed and humbled by God's gracious forgiving of our sins. Yet we seem reluctant and sometimes rebellious when the Lord commands us to forgive those who have wronged us. Why do we hold back? What do we fear? Who suffers most when we withhold forgiveness from those who have hurt us?

Make no mistake about it.... God calls us to do what we least want to do in order to expose our true nature... to reveal what's really in our heart. How powerful is the blood of Christ in your heart? Have you allowed what God has done for you to motivate you to resolve problems with your brothers?

Forgiveness binds us together
In forgiveness there is redemption, restoration, healing, transformation and change. Our sins have been erased. That’s the power in the cross of Christ. God forgiving us when we understand what He has done for humanity. We accept Him, we commit to Him, we submit to baptism... and we are reborn. A new life in Christ emerges... sins forgiven. (Acts 2:38) Now comes the hard part... paying that same gift to anyone who hurts us. We have to show the mercy that we have been shown by virtue of the cross. It is mandated that we do so.

Forgiveness can be about big issues and little issues, things of great importance in our lives and little insignificant things. In fact, those little things that we seem to turn from mole hills into mountains can lead to big things if left to smolder. Little things have the potential to accumulate knocking the big things in our lives off track. Important things like fellowship... worship... personal study... and prayer.

It’s easy to talk about the concept of forgiving “one another” as long as it doesn’t hit close to home... involving me. Forgiveness is of God, so the quality is superlative in nature and capable of refining the souls of all those involved. Wait a minute, if forgiveness is one of the defining attributes of God, and continuously admonished throughout the Bible, why do so many Christians find it to be such a bitter pill to swallow?

We struggle to extend forgiveness because the wrongs done to us by others hurt so much. It’s hard to accept that another Christian could act towards me in that way... hurt me like they did. At the same time, we are not completely sure what forgiveness really is or what it might involve. It’s a whole lot more than words for sure. It is not that we cannot forgive someone, but that we are afraid of what it might cost us. We like to control our lives and insulate ourselves from as much outsider intrusion as possible. Things that have been done to you hurt and they become like “treasured wounds”. Hanging onto them lets you always remember what someone did to you!

The kind of forgiveness we love to sing about, that flows down from God to us through Christ, is not the forgiveness that matters when we’re dealing with a Christian brother or sister who has hurt us. Forgiveness... essential in Christian brotherhood is man-to-man, woman-to-woman so to speak. Because we have to resolve hurt and pain between each other... the characteristics of forgiveness taste bitter. Fear manifesting itself as Pride almost always gets in our way of resolving differences. You have an agenda, a sort of “checklist” , that in your mind must be resolved before you will even consider forgiving a brother. You need to get that idea out of your mind!

Don’t forget who’s in charge... God. God forgave us because of what Jesus did “for us”. Now, in the course of living the Christian life... bumping into one another, stepping on toes now and then, and saying hurtful things, obliges each of us to forgive others because of what Jesus is doing “in us”.

I don’t like to pull weeds! I’m not real fond of cleaning the house either. I hate balancing the checkbook! But these are the “laws of adulthood”. We all do these things because they need to be done. Putting them off only makes for a bigger problem another day. The “law of forgiveness” is essential for living the Christian life. Forgiving one another should be easily and quickly done... like other “matter-of-fact” routines in life. I know... easier said than done.

The single reason Christians need to be forgivers is the simple yet profoundly critical command of Jesus himself. Not only are we told to forgive anyone who has hurt us... we also learn we cannot enjoy forgiveness ourselves if we are not exercising it toward others.

The proper corollary to Jesus' prayer as he hung on the cross, “Father, forgive them,” is Jesus' imperative, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25).

Now when you hear those words in the context of forgiving your brother, it rings like a sacred warning doesn’t it? Forgive one another... do it often... be sincere about it... get past your treasure wounds... be brothers again and forevermore.... or, I the Living God will withdraw forgiveness from you... forgiveness that leads to your eternal life!

WOW! Get the picture?