The Hardest Commandment
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15).
Jesus asks His followers to do the seemingly impossible in the passage above. When we are wronged, especially in ways that are lasting and deeply personal, forgiveness seems impossible and even wrong to consider. But God’s command to forgive is unconditional. And it comes with a severe penalty if you don’t do it. It’s non-negotiable. We must do it.
Some time ago I was sabotaged by a fellow Christian leader and his actions effectively shut down the ministry I was leading. Not long after this happened, I was in my car praying out loud as I drove. I was praying for the man who had undermined me. I told God that I forgave him for what he had done to me, and I even went one step further and told God that I loved him despite the pain he’d caused me. My prayer went something like this: “I love him because your word says to love your enemies. So, I love him, but I don’t like him.”
God said to me, “You have to like him.”
“Why?” I asked.
God answered, “Because, I like you.”
God caught me in my word game. Saying I loved him but didn’t like him was just a way to say that I was really against him. Saying I didn’t like him was really showing that I didn’t love him, and in fact, hadn’t forgiven him. God wanted me to see that if you like (love) someone you want to see good happen to them. You are not for their destruction. You are for their redemption. You genuinely want them to be reconciled to God.
The fact that God likes me, enough to forgive me of my sins against Him means there’s no one I can’t or shouldn’t forgive. You know you have forgiven when you genuinely want God’s grace to be bestowed on your offender. Forgiveness is simple, but it’s not easy. Ask the Lord to help you.
Is there anyone from whom you’re withholding forgiveness?
Having begun as a guest speaker in 2005, Dan was appointed Interim Pastor in 2008 and has been serving Maple Root Baptist ever since. As a small group leader and Chaplin for the Connecticut Tigers, Dan has a heart for the lost and the God that saves them.