Forgiveness, By Christina V.

Forgiveness

By Christina V.

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.” Matthew 6:14
The dictionary definition of the word “forgive” is “to grant pardon for or remission of” or “to grant pardon to.” I don’t really like this definition because I believe the ability to forgive goes deeper than that. For example, you get upset at one of your friends over something small they did because you’re having a bad day. She is supposed to give you a ride home later. You talk to her a few hours later and say “Sorry about earlier, I didn’t mean it.” You make the apology even though you’re not over it because you need a ride. If your friendship is on the rocks then you won’t be able to get the ride. This example gives you an idea of how even though you take that step to apologize, you don’t really mean it in your heart. This can be hard sometimes because of our pride. It’s hard for us to admit that we’re wrong because we don’t want to be the “bad guy.” Proverbs 16:5 says “The Lord hates those who are proud. They will surely be punished.” Admitting you’re wrong can take a lot of guts sometimes. It can make us feel inferior, a feeling none of us likes to experience. But in the end, you are doing the right thing by taking that step forward to fix the problem at hand.
Another reason that makes it hard to forgive is that it’s just not the “cool” thing to do. A lot of people don’t consider it a big deal and just move forward with their lives without even thinking about it. But we need to forget about what other people consider what is right and wrong and worry about what God says is right and wrong. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says “We are human but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” We need to base our decisions and choices on what God’s Word says. Sometimes it’s hard to have a Christ-centered mindset but we must stay strong and never give up.
"Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” Hebrews 12:1.
God sent Jesus to live on the earth in the form of man to die on the cross and forgive us of our sins so we might have eternal life with Him. If we can just constantly remember this, it should make it easier to forgive. He has forgiven us of every single sin we have EVER done. When you forgive a friend or family member for something they did wrong, it’s just one thing. That doesn’t even begin to compare what the Lord has done for us. And yet, as humans, it’s a great example for us to forgive one another because it can be a reminder of what Jesus did for us.
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and loving to each other and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.”