The Divine Source of Forgiveness

The Divine Source of Forgiveness

I’ve heard a story I heard of an old woman who seemed older than her years, who spent her days watching TV in an old sweatsuit, drinking coffee and smoking cigarrettes, a harsh, bitter frown around her eyes and mouth. She’d once been beautiful and full of life. As a girl, she’d had had big dreams, and many of them came true.  She had a fantastic fairy tale wedding to a tall, handsome man, and settled into a life as wife and mother. Her husband was well-respected, and as his career took off, they enjoyed the stability that came with it. She was living her dream.

But time passed and the romance faded. Her husband had several “fatal flaws,” and the stress uncovered her own carefully hidden baggage. Their marriage began to crumble. The final blow came when she discovered her husband had had an affair. The divorce was spectacularly messy as both sides tried to extract the most pain from each other possible. But hurting him wasn’t enough, and she became increasingly bitter. He’d broken her heart, stolen her dreams and then left her alone. Her anger was justified, which made it all that much harder to let go of. So instead of moving on, she sank deeper into herself. Her bitterness consumed her, leaving only the ugly shell.

Forgiveness is very, very hard. As C.S. Lewis put it, “Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”  The deeper the hurt, the harder it is to forgive, because forgiving someone who’s hurt you feels like letting them win, like the act of forgiving them and letting go of the anger will somehow allow them to get away with it. When someone tearfully says they can’t forgive someone who’s hurt them deeply – I believe them. There are many hurts that we just don’t have the resources within us to allow us to truly forgive.

[pullquote]”Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” – CS Lewis [/pullquote]I think Jesus understood this, and it’s why He reminds us of God’s willingness to forgive us. When Jesus teaches His disciples, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” I don’t think His wording is coincidence. This is the divine source of forgiveness. Our sins nailed His Son to a rough wooden cross, and yet God forgave. It’s almost like this gives us an external source of forgiveness, as if it were a sort of substance – foreign to us – that we can pass on to someone we need to forgive. When you and I hurt too badly, when we try to forgive and can’t – go to the Cross. Take your hurts there and trade them for the divine forgiveness Christ obtained for us there.

Letting the hurt and bitterness go is often much harder than we think, because it becomes a part of us. But not letting go is quite literally a deal with the devil, one that will consume and enslave your soul. Christ died in our place to set us free from that debt. Now we need to forgive our debtors.

Who do you need to forgive? Who has hurt you deeply? Maybe it was this week. Maybe it was a lifetime ago. But we must forgive, as God has forgiven us. Accept the forgiveness that God is offering you in Christ, and allow Him to fill you with the divine resources that allow us to forgive – to be reconciled to the ones who have hurt us, who have sinned against us.

“…Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:40-47)

Pray with me today for the people in our church. Life in a fallen world is hard, and we’re all damaged by it. But we are also people who have been forgiven for so much. Pray with me that God would make us into people capable of forgiveness, who are characterized by our God-given ability to forgive.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *