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Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
We have all had that person in our lives that we feel we just cannot forgive. That person, who the moment you hear “forgive as you have been forgiven”, you think “that’s easy for you to say” or “but you don’t know what I have been through”. We all have excuses for why this doesn’t apply to us.
Unfortunately, we fall into the world’s view of who we are and we pretend to compare ourselves to those that we have unforgiveness toward and somehow we think we are in a better position and not guilty of whatever it is this person has done to us.
The truth however, is that we are guilty of enough sin to warrant eternal consequences. We have rejected Christ, we have slandered and taken His name in vain, we have had other God’s before Him, we have been unloving, murderous (at least with our thoughts)…there are so many sins that we have committed against our Heavenly Father and yet God, through Christ, offered up forgiveness for us even before we repented (but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8).
My Dad was that person for me. He was not a kind man. He was an alcoholic, he was abusive to my mom(s) and me. And he seemed to get worse as time went on. At 15, after one last beating, I found myself homeless (keep in mind that I was not a bad kid, I was a straight A student and usually teachers pet). I am very thankful that my boyfriends parents allowed me to stay with them and sleep on their couch. Needless to say, I had a heart of bitterness and unforgiveness toward my Dad.
Then Jesus forgave me! As Christ began to create a new person in me, I realized that even though my dad wasn’t the picture of a loving, caring, compassionate Father, my Heavenly Father was. And, my Heavenly Father had asked me to honor my father and mother….not when they were good to me, but always. I knew that I needed to ask my dad to forgive me for not being the daughter that God had called me to be.
Not having spoken to my dad in a number of years, you can imagine how surprised he was when I called and asked if I could come see him. I was both relieved and anxious when he said yes. I went to his house right away, knocked on the door and when he said “come in” I was suddenly that little girl again, fearful, tearful and anxious, but I went in (obedience to my Heavenly Father was paramount). I will never forget seeing him sitting there in his comfy chair, he looked so much older than I had remembered and it made me regretful that I had let so much time go by. I walked to his chair and sat on the floor at his feet. He asked what was going on and I reached up and took his hand and explained that I had come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that through this relationship it had become clear to me that I was not the daughter that God had called me to be or that he had deserved and I asked him to forgive me. We both cried, really, really hard and he did forgive me. He didn’t ask for my forgiveness, but as we both hugged and wept, I forgave him too. Within several years, my dad had come to know Christ as his own Lord and Savior and is now in glory waiting on me.
When God asks us to forgive others, it is not just obedience, it is a testimony. It testifies to the person we are forgiving that we are a new creation, it testifies to the world that there is something different about us and it is a tool that God can use to draw others to Himself.
I pray that if someone came to mind while you were reading this or if there is someone in your life that you know that you need to forgive, that you will be obedient to your Heavenly Father and forgive them. And, if you need to repent and ask them or anyone for forgiveness that you will make it a point to seek that person out and ask for their forgiveness. Only God knows how He can use your obedience for His glory.
Luv ya!
