forgiveness
i've been thinking alot lately about what it really means to forgive. God says, "vengeance is Mine. I will repay". the problem is God doesn't do things the way we would like Him to. He doesn't make the offender 'get their due', and He asks us to leave it in His hands even if we don't ever see the justice exacted according to our expectations. we want God to gouge their eyes out, crash their car, let their wallet be stolen...whatever notion we have in our heads of what 'payback' looks like. but God's justice is completely different.
God's judgments are against sin, not against people. the Father doesn't destroy us, He destroys the things we cling to that keep us from Him. it's our choice weather we hold onto those things or not. the justice God brings is life-giving. His judgments against sin is forgiveness - not holding that thing against us or refusing us love because of our choices. His judgement against sickness is healing. isaiah 61 says that He gives beauty for ashes, joy for mourning and praise for despair. these are His judgments. and this is the struggle when we are asked to forgive. are we willing to give up seeing destruction and pain rain down on the offender? can we let God give us His perspective so that we look with eyes of compassion on those that have deeply hurt us. can we ask God not just to keep them from hurting others, but also to heal their hurts? when we ask God to restore what was taken can we ask God to also restore the taker? these are His justice.
none of this is possible without God's help. we are not capable as humans of loving without expectation, of loving without a hook. the human response is to take control, but that means telling God that He's wrong to forgive someone. and isn't that trying to take the place of God? the beauty is that God doesn't require us to want to forgive, He just asks us to trust Him.
forgiveness is trust.
2 comments:
I beg to differ. Forgiveness is not trust. Forgiveness is trust in God.
Only a fool trusts in people that continue to hurt them repeatedly to have them say, Oh, I really didn't mean that. Nothing like having to forgive, have your trust broken again and your feelings completely minimalized. Wouldn't you agree?
As someone so eloquently states, "I'm also one who strongly believes in second chances, and in offering the benefit of a doubt. This of course does not mean being foolish in such liberality." I believe that is what is meant by let sleeping dogs lie. Even the forgiven ones.
important clarification.
i did mean trust in God. i thought that would be clear from the sentence before that statement, but for the sake of clarity i should say it.
'forgiveness is trust in God'.
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