‘Tis the season. Somehow, our culture has changed Hallowed Evening into Horror Eve. Instead of driving off the evil spirits, we invite them, decorate with them, play with them, “frighten” ourselves with them for our enjoyment. Personally, I don’t get it. I never liked to be frightened. Spook houses and horror movies are not for me.
If anyone wants to be scared, just read the Scriptures. Some parts of that are hair-raising! Here’s the concept that rattles me. We love to think about God forgiving us. Maybe not so much about Him forgiving certain other people. But when we can’t forgive others, we put our own forgiveness in jeopardy!
Mt. 6:12-14:
Forgive us
our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people
when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But
if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your
sins.
Luke 6:37:
Do not
judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Mark 11:25:
And when you
stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that
your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Mt. 5:44:
But I tell
you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you; that you may
be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
In Matthew,
chapter 18, Peter asks Jesus how many times to forgive his brother. Jesus’s
answer, “Seventy times seven,” was followed by the story of the unforgiving
servant, which ends with a warning.
Mt. 18:32-35:
Then the
master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, “I canceled all
that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on
your fellow servant just as I had on you?” In anger his master handed him over
to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is
how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother
or sister from your heart.
Yikes!
Some commands from the Lord are easier to keep than others. “Do no murder.” So far, so good. “Don’t steal.” OK. “Don’t covet your neighbor’s stuff.” I was doing fine with that until my friend’s new used car came with the blind spot warning signal and my new used car didn’t. I got over it.
But, “forgive.” That one is really hard. It was I who was offended, hurt, damaged, inconvenienced, and maligned. How can I forgive these offenses against me, me, me? But that’s my self-centered perspective. Jesus claims that offenses against His children, prophets, disciples, followers are actually offenses against Him – Matthew 25:40 & 45. Furthermore, He claims the right of payback.
Romans
12:19:
Do not take
revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written:
“It is mine to avenge, I will repay,” says the Lord.
If I can picture the offenses against me as against God instead, several things happen. First, I’m horrified to think of my friends/family/enemies doing those offensive things to God. Then I think I don’t have to take offense, since it was aimed at Him and not at me. Then I know it will be taken care of appropriately if I leave it to Him. Maybe I exaggerated and it wasn’t as bad as I took it, and He will not need to punish them like I would. Maybe it was even worse than I knew; in that case, He will do the right thing. It’s His weight and His responsibility. But, best of all for me, if I leave it to Him, He will forgive me because I have not kept unforgiveness in my heart. It’s hard, but it has to be done. Because the alternative is scary.
Note: If
you want to have a better understanding of forgiveness and don’t want to
be scared, go back and listen to Kelly O’Rear’s two messages on forgiveness,
July 9 and 16, 2023, on the Grace podcast.
--Lynda Shenefield
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