The Price of Forgiving
Posted By admin on January 28, 2012
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).
What is the price of forgiving? or what does it take to forgive? Forgiving may seem like an easy task. Yet it is one of the most challenging, even difficult spiritual exercises. Forgiving is not easy, but it is not impossible even in grievous circumstances. With Christ, we can overcome our infirmities which hinder us from forgiving, for “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).
Spiritual Posture
What is the price of forgiving? Well, there is a price for everything we do, and forgiving takes no exception. The act to forgive needs Spiritual maturity. Thus a forgiving attitude and our spirituality often go together. It is not easy to forgive if we walk in the flesh; “for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8: 5).
Obedience
We cannot separate obedience from forgiving. Willingness to forgive others is related to our Spiritual walk. And obedience is one of the observable signs of our Spiritual maturity. Our natural man may desire revenge, but our obedience to Christ should point us to forgive even as Christ forgave us (Ephesians 4: 32). Jesus taught us that the condition to receive forgiveness from God is by giving it our neighbours: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (St. Matthew 6: 14-15).
Love
It is impossible to genuinely forgive without love, for “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (I Corinthians 13: 4-7).
Self Denial
When we are angry or hurt, we often want to indulge our feelings and satisfy them by holding grudges or the desire to revenge. Jesus taught that to follow him we also need to deny ourselves, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me: (St. Luke 9:23). It is a godly requirement to submit to the commandments of God and deny ourselves. That self denial will also lead us to submitting one to another even as we submit to God, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5: 21). One of the reasons we also hurt one another is our unwillingness to submit one to another.
Our desire to be always right no matter the cost is a Spiritual disinvestment. Unwillingness to forgive is characteristic of self righteousness and self exaltation . Without total submission to God it becomes difficult to deny ourselves and constrain ourselves. When we deny ourselves, we will be able to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10: 5).
How to Overcome an Unforgiving Spirit
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12: 21). In order to overcome an unforgiving spirit, we need to learn to forgive others immediately and unconditionally. Why immediately? Here is the reason: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (Ephesians 4:26). Forgiving immediately will hinder us from meditating and thinking on the hurt. The longer we think on the hurt, the bigger it grows and the harder it becomes to forgive. But instead we can redirect our thoughts to meditate on the Lord (Psalms 1: 2) and to magnify the Lord (Psalms 34: 3). When we forgive immediately we will eliminate the temptation to put conditions to grant forgiveness. Let us give our hurts to God, for only he can restore our souls (Psalms 23: 3). We defraud ourselves when we set conditions to forgive others and we rob ourselves of the rewards God gives to those who do not place any demands or prerequisites on forgiving.
Joseph had a hard life due to the hatred of his own brothers. But when opportunity came for him to avenge himself, he saw God’s plan and grace instead, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20). God avenged for Joseph by exalting him. When we revenge for ourselves, we also interrupt God from using us and judging on our case against those who persecute us. Jesus could have easily cursed those who were crucifying him, instead he said “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (St. Luke 23: 34).
Forgiving and Healing
We do not heal because we take our spiritual wounds to the wrong people. Often we are blinded by our hurt that we want our offenders to restore us. It is only God who can restore us (Psalms 23: 3). The remedy for our hurt feelings is the word of God and prayer. Take it to the Lord in prayer, for the Lord will fight for you if you hold your peace.
I will practice and tell others
When you forgive you do not do your offender any favour but you are doing God’s commandment. Thank you for the lesson.
I pray God to help me to forgive
Inspiring! Thank you so much for this update. I will now need practice because I am the one being helped here. Thank you. PEACE!