Forgiveness

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I just found out that August 2nd was International Forgiveness Day. It made me think about forgiveness. The first thought I had was how thankful I am to God for the forgiveness He offers through Christ. If we confess out sins, he will forgive us. He will then throw our sins as far as the east is from the west. Then he forgets. He will never hold them against us again. He will never bring them up to me again and say things like remember when you did that …. He doesn’t hold a grudge.

For if you forgive others 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. - Matthew 6:14-15

I started to think about how we forgive. Forgiveness is not an emotion; it is a choice. It is a conscious choice and has nothing to do with how I feel. I choose to love my enemies. I choose to be humble. I choose to forgive. I can’t wait until my anger subsides to forgive – that is backwards. It is in forgiving that causes my anger to subside.

Forgiveness is not about the person who wronged me; it’s about me. If I choose not to forgive someone, I change on the inside. I will grow angry and resentful. I will suffer because it is sin and it interferes with my relationship with God. I need to forgive even if the other person doesn’t apologize. I can forgive even if I know what was done to me was wrong. I don’t have to condone the action to forgive it. I need to choose to forgive and let go. The rest is God’s business.
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