Forgiveness

https://odb.org/MY/2023/02/08/gods-arms-are-open

One of the fundamental precepts of our faith is forgiveness. We start our journey of faith with forgiveness when we seek God’s forgiveness by repenting from our sins and acknowledging Christ’s work on the cross and accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour. Corollary to that Jesus taught us in the Lord’s prayer to forgive others as the Father had forgiven us – “Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us”.

Thus, having a forgiving heart is a given as a Christian. There is no way around it. There is no way we could avoid it as much as we may sometimes want to. Certainly not something we could rationalise away. We can not say that person was cruel and extremely mean to us or that he did that really evil thing to us. “An eye for an eye” is a thing of the past. It is now, “Give him the other cheek.” There is just no justification not to forgive.

At most, we could only plead for what the Lord had said before – “vengeance is mine.” That, however, means it’s for God to deal with the way He deems fit, and chances are He may also forgive! This is because He is more a God of love and compassion than a God of vengeance, of fire and brimstone. In fact, if given half a chance, the Lord will offer a place in heaven if they repent and believe in Jesus. So don’t put too much hope on God avenging the wrongs done to us against our evil and wicked perpetrators.

The Lord may, however, restore to us what the locusts had destroyed. Like the Shunammite woman whom God restored her home, lands, and all produce from her lands during her 7-year sojourn away when she returned to Judah after the famine; God may do the same for us. There will be new paths to explore and journey on. What has happened has happened. We leave those behind and move on.

If we harbour the thought that God will avenge us by having some tragedy or calamity befall the people who had wronged us, then we are having a vengeful spirit, and that, in my view is not forgiveness. Asking the Lord to take revenge for us is not a loophole to exploit when we are not to avenge the wrongs done to us ourselves. Harbouring a hope for vengeance by proxy means that we have not forgiven. It means that we still want to get even.

The message this morning is to embrace forgiveness as much as it is difficult in some instances. Forgive and move on. Pray for those who had wronged or hurt us. Perhaps they will change over time. The Lord will heal us. There will be other opportunities and alternative pathways. God will make a way for us. We will have a fresh start. A new beginning. Praise the Lord!