To recap: God is love. Because He is love, He decided to make us, so that He can express His love. In love, He prepared all we would ever need to live and love as He loves. This included removing sin and the consequences of sin, so that nothing will ever separate us from His love.
The cost of removing our sins was the death of God himself, in that Jesus took on humanity and all the sin and the punishment of humanity, then died to remove the judgement from all who would love Him and receive this gift of forgiveness.
While He was with us, Jesus showed us the heart of God and taught us how to speak to God.
In Matt. 7 we find The Lord’s Prayer, with only 3 petitions for ourselves:
- Give us today our daily bread…
- Forgive us our sins, as we forgive them that sin against us…
- Lead us not into temptation, “but deliver us from evil.
The prayer is immediately followed by – for if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Without loving as God loves, we cannot forgive as God forgives – completely, before the loved one wrongs us. In Eph 4:32 Paul writes, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
In 1 Pet 4:8 we read, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
In 1 Cor 13:4-5 Paul describes this Agape LOVE. It:- never fails, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered/ offended (decides not to take offence when wronged), keeps no record of wrongs (it absolves wrongs)
John’s 1st letter deals with living in God’s love and living it out to others. In chapter 4:19 he writes, “We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
The Bible records both Jesus and Stephen forgiving those who kill them wrongfully and brutally. They took no offence and begged God to absolve the murderers.
Jesus warned His disciples that forgiveness is more important than prayer, in fact our prayers are hindered by unforgiveness. He said, “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).
In Matt. 18 we learn how to deal with the brother who sins against us (not to ignore him or the sin). He follows it up with the parable of the unmerciful servant, who begs for mercy for his debt of millions and receives it from his compassionate master. However, he fails to show the same mercy to his colleague who owes him a few hundred denarii. The master judges him: “You wicked servant. I cancelled all your debt because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” He reinstates his debt and turns him over to the jailers for punishment. (v.23-33).
We can only practice true forgiveness after being wronged in a horrible way if we first understand how truly forgiven we are, by God. Without first understanding the grace, love, and mercy displayed for us on the cross, we cannot possibly understand what debt of our own has been absolved. Once we do, and as long as we do, loving and forgiving others is a spontaneous reaction.
Father, help me to constantly realize the great debt I owe You, and the infinite mercy You show me in my Lord, Jesus Christ. Pour out Your love into my heart, by Your Spirit, so that I can joyfully show mercy to all who hurt and wrong me and so fulfil Your great command and live in Your presence today. Amen
Elzeth Malherbe