Yesterday we talked about forgiving ourselves. And that having a pure heart helps us better serve God. The second point of forgiveness I want to discuss is forgiving others. Just as forgiving ourselves might be the hardest for some of us to do of the three points we’re going to make, forgiving others might be the hardest to do for some of us as well.
When someone wrongs us, or wrongs someone that we care about, we must try to forgive them. I am fully aware how hard this is. Because I am as guilty as the next of not forgiving. Not so much when someone wrongs me. I can brush that off. But when someone harms my family, especially my wife or children, I want to retaliate. I want them to pay for what they’ve done. I want them to feel the same pain that they have caused. Actually, I want them to suffer more. And I want to be the cause of their pain. These are all my natural responses as a husband and father. I’m sure many of you feel the same way. But, I have learned over time that I MUST forgive them instead. WE must all learn to do this.
Here’s why. First off, the Bible tells us we must forgive others. Plain and simple. It’s a command. Read today’s verse again. Secondly, forgiving others is not a gift for them. It does not release them from what they have done. They are still guilty. And I am completely fine with them being held accountable. Forgiving them, releases us. Not them. It is a gift to us. It is an amazing gift to us. How is that? It releases us because it takes that off of our shoulders. It takes away the constant burden of wanting to retaliate. It takes the hate out of our hearts. We probably will never forget. Nothing wrong with that. We can learn from these types of situations. And we can grow stronger. But forgiving is going to give us a peace in our hearts again. We can sleep better. We can go about our days better. And just like the first point we made yesterday, it helps make our hearts pure. Which allows us to better serve our God. Which we all should strive to do. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.
