DARE to forgive

PASTOR ALLWIN JOHNSON

 

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:12, 14-15.

When I was doing my masters in theology at South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore, I had a very good friend, whose name is Charles Theodor. He is a gifted biblical scholar and a moving biblical commentary. He is from the so called hot place, Andhra Pradesh. We were good friends. We had a practice of debating on some topics, mostly on theological grounds or on social issue. Some times we start our debate at five in the evening and we talk, talk and talk, up to one in the midnight. We’ll have all kinds of bibles and commentaries in front and fight for each other’s point of view. These arguments sometimes go very fiery. On course I use some words which will eventually hurt his feelings. And when this happens, he turns his face from me. At least for two weeks, he never speak to me. But, for me, nothing matters. I never take anything immediately to my heart. So I go down and try speaking to him at dining hall or at class room whatever. I know that if I don’t go down and talk to him deliberately, he will never talk to me. Even if the mistake is not on my side, I ask him for pardon and we resolve the quarrel between us.

We all know there is nobody in this world who is so benevolent that everybody likes him or her. Everybody faults some where or other. Everybody hurts the feelings of someone or other. First of all we must remember what God says about the character of human being. He says, every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21).

We were once stinking sinners away from the holy God Almighty. However Bible says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5: . And the blood of Jesus Christ has purified us from all our sins. As Peter says in 1 Peter 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” When we confessed him our sins, he forgave us from all our faults and he will remember them no more.  Psalmist says, “…he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. …as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalms 108: 10, 12).

 

Let me explain what it means when God says that he has forgiven us. Do you remember the Australian missionary, Mr. Graham Stains, who worked among the lepers in Mayurpunch district of Orissa? He and his two young sons were burned to death by a Hindu terrorist, Tara Singh. Having lost her husband and two sons, his wife Mrs. Gladys Stains was standing all alone with her only remaining daughter. Do you know the words came out from her mouth at the funeral service? She said, as Christ has forgiven those who crucified him, from my heart, I forgive those who burned my husband and sons. She did not want to take vengeance on them. She forgave them and considered them as if they have never harmed her before. This is called forgiveness.

 

Presume that I was betrayed by my close friend. I believed him so much but he deliberately let me down in a crucial situation. Because of his betrayal, I became a mockery in the public. Now, for me, forgiving means, first I should heal the wounds of my heart. Then I should forget what he did to me and consider him as if he had done no harm to me.  Jesus also has done the same to us. Even though we have done a lot of sins against Him, He does not count them against us. He sees us as if we have not done any sin against Him. This is called forgiveness. You cannot forgive somebody unless you forget the harm that they have done to you.

Just saying, “I forgive them” is very easy but unless and until you go to the particular person and talk to them freely without any restraint, you haven’t forgiven them. Let me put it again; forgiving is forgetting what harm they did to you. And forgetting is completely blotting out from your memory. Do you know about someone who hit his head in an accident and remembers nothing in the past? That’s how you should be. You should forget the harm that they did to you and mingle with them as before.

 

For your information, to forgive others is not an option but a command before us. Jesus says in Matthew 6: 14, 15; “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” We must be aware of the fact that if we don’t forgive others who do harm against us, our heavenly father will not forgive our sins. Beware, if our sins are not forgiven, we will end up with hell.

 

If you can not forgive somebody, then you are an incompetent, cowardly person. This may hurt you deeply but pardon me; I can’t help telling this truth. Forgiving somebody is a triumph on your side and a humiliation on your counterpart.  We must taste the glory of God in forgiving others. Forgiving others equal yourself to God himself, since forgiving is the one of the supernatural qualities of the God Almighty. By forgiving somebody, you become the master and your counterpart becomes one under you. Master over them before they master over you.

“Unforgiving” is a barricade for the answers of your prayers. If you feel some of your prayers are unanswered, try forgiving those who sinned against you.

My dear brothers and sisters, now I believe you are all convinced and committed to forgive others. Unless you take some conscious steps, you can’t forgive anyone.  I request you to follow these steps below and fulfill the command that God has given us.

      Write down all the names of those people you don’t like to talk or even to see,

      Think about the reason why you don’t like them,

      Write down the actions they did, that made you to dislike them,

      Confess to your self and to God that you forgive them whole heartedly,

      Forget that particular incident that harmed you and bless them in Jesus name.

      Have you forgiven genuinely? Do you like them really? If so, immediately do a friendly visit with a box of sweets. Talk with them every good and bad. Laugh together. Caution: Don’t talk about others. Invite them as a family to come to your home for a dinner, cook together and eat together.

      If that particular person is far away, call them through telephone and talk to them.

      Do this regularly, whenever some body hurts you.

 

Remember, forgiving others is something heroic. So

DARE to forgive.