Essential Jesusনমুনা

Forgiven and Forgiving

At first reading, Jesus seems to be saying that we earn His forgiveness by forgiving others. This is not quite what it means. The point is that if we are "forgiven" people, we need to be "forgiving" people. If I have truly grasped how much God has forgiven me, it naturally follows that I am to forgive others. To not have this forgiving mindset is an indication that we haven’t taken hold of God’s forgiveness in the first place. But we need to offer some qualification to this. First of all, forgiving others is not a piece of cake. It’s a challenge. It’s not about denying or trying to forget what’s been done to us. It’s not about passively accepting criminal wrongdoing. It’s not about trying to be nice and just moving on. Any hurt done to us has to be faced and so involves some pain.

And related to that, forgiveness is a process, not a one-off event. It’s a struggle, and we need not condemn ourselves for finding it hard. As long as we’re seeking and wanting to forgive, we’re on the right track. While it’s our duty to forgive, we cannot by ourselves ensure reconciliation. Sadly, we can’t be sure of a happy ending. Not even a forgiving God can insist that people be reconciled to Him.

If we have a hard-hearted refusal to embark on the forgiveness journey, we do well to reconsider our grasp or non-grasp of God’s forgiveness. If we are on that sometimes up-and-down journey, we can seek the help of a gracious and forgiving God along the way.

Written by DAVID REAY