I hesitantly write this because I know that this topic requires much more than a brief article. This article is my attempt to provide enough information and motivation for participants to effectively engage with this week’s challenge.
I’ve learned over the years to forgive immediately. Keeping short accounts is a much better way to live. Therefore, this week’s challenge is pretty easy for me. I know that is not true for everyone.
This week’s challenge might be as simple as a good refresher for you OR it may cut to the heart of unresolved issues in your life and require the best you’ve got and then some. Either way…I’m praying for you this week. Forgiveness is a core issue in the life of the every believer. Think of forgiveness as the key that unlocks the door to freedom.
I NEED FORGIVENESS
This world is a messed up place. That’s pretty easy to recognize. What’s the problem? I’m not talking about a list of symptoms. I’m asking about the root cause. What makes this world so messed up? God diagnoses it as a sin problem. Each one of us has an internal “sin” problem. The world is messed up because we are messed up. Wanna change the world? Start with you. There are so many ways
that we ignore, offend, rebel against, speak badly about, mistrust, and disobey our Creator God. Jesus endured the punishment that all of that deserves. We, in exchange, are offered forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
Read Matthew 6:12 and 1 John 1:8-10.
I NEED TO FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE SINNED AGAINST ME
Once we recognize God to be forgiving, patient, and gracious it requires something of us. We are supposed to extend that same grace to others.
Read Matthew 6:12-15, Luke 6:27-36 and Matthew 18:21-35.
Your sin has affected other people. And other people’s sin has affected you. It’s a reality of the world we live in. We can clamor for fairness. And on one level we’d be right. It wasn’t fair. One person suffering from the sin of another isn’t fair. One day Jesus is going to return to set up his eternal kingdom. When He does, He will put an end to all sin, evil and suffering. But right now we live in a world marred by sin. Forgiveness is the only way to navigate such a world in a healthy way.
If someone has done something and you are still carrying anger, bitterness, resentment or some other negative and destructive emotion, then you need to know that forgiveness is the way to freedom. You don’t necessarily need to talk to the person who sinned against you to forgive them. You need to talk to God about it. The emotions attached to these issues are real. This kind of praying is gritty, honest, emotional, and tough. Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. Your feelings are real, but if you wait to forgive until you “feel like it” it may never happen. You can choose to obey God and forgive today. Some day your feelings might catch up with your choice.
Take some time in your journal. You’ll need to make a list. Your list might be very short or longer than you anticipated. Each instance might be a small thing or a big thing. For each instance write: What happened? How did it make you feel? Then talk to God about your choice to forgive.
The Steps to Freedom in Christ by Neil Andersen (Harvest House Publishers) is as helpful a summary of how to actively engage in forgiveness as I’ve ever seen. If this week’s challenge is particularly difficult for you, I would encourage you to visit www.ficm.org. There is a free download called Forgiving Others that may help you with this week’s challenge. You may also want to pick up a copy of the book Steps to Freedom in Christ or The Bondage Breaker.
I NEED TO RECONCILE WITH THOSE I HAVE SINNED AGAINST
Read Matthew 5:23-26.
If you’ve wronged someone and have never apologized and attempted to restore the relationship then this week is your week! The longer you wait, the less likely you are to do it! There’s no guarantee as to how the person will respond to you. They may forgive you. They may not. You may become friends again. You may not. Their response is not the point. The point is that we, as Christ followers, are obedient to God.