April 2017 - Jesus Ministry

Forgiveness
Sometimes we find it so hard to forgive people who offend us. Most times the people who offend us are those whom we trust most, someone we look up to, at times the very people whom we love the most and cherish.

Forgiveness and being reconciled are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not patting one another on the back and turning blind eye to the wrong.                                                                          

Forgiveness looks sin in the eye and speaks the costly words : "I forgive you."

What does the Bible teach about forgiveness?
Matthew 6:14-15:
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Ephesians 1:7:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

Why is it so hard to forgive?                                                                                           
1. sometimes we were so wounded by people we trusted most. The wound may have been old, but the pain remains fresh.
2. sometimes people treated others unfairly in order to maximize their own power. We often find it difficult to forgive because they've wounded us to our very soul.

Why do we have to forgive others?                                       
1. From a Gracious God we receive forgiveness; we have all sinned against God
What does God does with our sins?
- He erases them
Isaiah 43:24-25:  
24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
- He does not record them
Psalm 32:2: Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
- He totally removes them
Psalm 103: 12: As distant as the east is from the west, that is how far he has removed our sins from us.
- He nails them to the cross
Colossians 2: 13-14:                                                                                                                                                               13 Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,                                                                                                     14 having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.

2. Forgiving someone is a difficult thing to do, but it's a necessity for our well-being;  it improves our life by improving our physical and emotional health.

3. The main reason for forgiving is that we will glorify God and reveal His character to those around us.

Jesus died on the cross not because something was wrong with him, but because everything was wrong with us.

In most cases, the only way to forgive is by remembering. It is important that we do not make a simplistic connection between forgiving and forgetting. True forgiveness requires a careful look at what has actually happened to us. It is possible that we genuinely do not remember what someone has done against us, but most often it is largely a mistake to say, "Forgive and forget." Rather, the judgment of grace enables us, through the power of Holy Spirit, to remember well and deal with it.
- True forgiveness requires the offender to own sin repentantly.
- Genuine repentance goes deeper than apology or the expression of regret.
- forgiveness is given graciously and generously; if they repent, forgive them.

Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting to remember, but remembering to forget.

O Lord our GOD, grant us the Grace to genuinely forgive those who  ask us for forgiveness.