Forgiveness

For a person of faith, forgiveness is much more than a notion, it is imperative. In fact, God calls Christians to forgive others as He has forgiven us. One definition of forgiveness is "not holding the past against someone who is injured you."

Is there someone that you have had difficulty forgiving? One reason it is difficult to forgive is because the injury or wound happened recently and you are still feeling a lot of pain because of it. Another name I've given for such an injury or wound is a "sin debt," meaning an offender has sinned in some way against you and created a "debt" of sorts.

Christians generally feel very rushed to forgive someone who has created a "sin debt" in their lives. What I've seen is that when forgiveness is forced or rushed, it is not as sincere or authentic. Rushed forgiveness is not true forgiveness, it is mainly lip-service. Acknowledging the hurt of the injury or sin debt, is the foundation of authentic forgiveness. When we minimize the wound, our efforts at forgiving the one who hurt us is usually not as thorough.

Is there someone who has injured you recently? Is there someone you know you need to forgive? God wants you to express His grace to others through forgiveness, but you want to make sure that it is the right time, that it is authentic, and that it is complete.