Sometimes the idea of forgiving someone does not even cross our minds, and if it does, it seems difficult, even impossible, to imagine. Let me remind you that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). I once believed that I was the most forgiving person in the world. I now recognize that I “forgave” certain individuals out of my desperate desire for love and affection. And by forgave I mean brushed off the cruelty of others by convincing myself that I deserved such treatment. Within a day or two of an offense, I would eagerly run back for more — more love, more affection, and, ultimately, more cruelty. After all, I was no angel; I’d hurt others; I’d earned such wantonness. I’ve never prescribed to a victim mentality.
It was eight years ago that I escaped to the wilderness and took a job workcamping for eight months in a locale that was a beautiful six-hour journey from home. At that time, my recent past included what in hindsight was a most ridiculous, bound-to-fail (praise God), drunken suicide attempt; a broken engagement with a man who had narcissistic personality traits; and, on a good note, a few months of sobriety under my belt.
Upon returning to reality eight months later, largely motivated by the immediate proximity of the person mentioned above, I knew I needed to relocate. We lived in the same campground, and his site was adjacent to mine. Can you say, “Awkward?!” I was still reeling over the circumstances of that relationship, and while I did not at all long to repair or resume it, I could not let go of the anger and pain I was experiencing and dwelled upon both daily.
By God’s grace, I was able to purchase a home several miles away. A few months into residing there, I was walking my dog when a sudden, quiet voice popped into my head, “You know, you could just forgive him.” I stopped in my tracks and in a baffled state retorted in my mind loudly, “I could?!” Eventually, I did. I am well aware now whose voice that was. God speaks through His word, but I was blind to the Bible and He knew I needed to hear and apply those words desperately.
Now, seven years out from that life-transforming silent yet seemingly auditory revelation, I have eyes to see and ears to hear. Not only have I forgiven the above-referenced person but I pray for his soul. In the words of Charles H. Spurgeon, which by God’s amazing providence were part of my morning reading today, “Those who have personally tasted and known the sweetness of true Christianity are not selfishly satisfied merely to rejoice in their religion but long that others, too, may taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).”
So is forgiving others really that difficult? Certainly not when we consider that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lived a life wrought with humiliation, persevered through much suffering, and committed not one single sinful act, all of which culminated into His final, grueling earthly act of hanging from a tree til death in order to procure the Father’s forgiveness for all of our countless sins.
When considering forgiving others’ sins against you, try to imagine Jesus’s beaten and bloodied body and remember what the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians:
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)
