Forgiveness

This is a subject that a lot of us have a problem with. We all have done wrong things that have affected the lives of others and have had wrong things done to us by other people. When someone comes to you and apologizes for the wrong they have done to you and asks forgiveness, can you really forgive them, not only with your mouth, but with your heart also? Is real forgiveness a human trait that we are able to apply without reservation or conditions?

For those of you that are familiar with the Holy Bible, lets look at what one of the passages says about forgiving. We’ll go to what is known as the “Lord’s Prayer” stated in Matthew 6:12. It says: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In this I substituted the word in the scripture “debts” for the word “trespasses” since it means the same thing as was indicated by the following explanation given by Jesus as He explained about forgiving a person’s trespasses in verses 14 and 15.

Now in most cases if we ask God to forgive our trespasses in the same manner as we forgive others who trespass against us, we just might be in trouble because of the way that we actually forgive others. Our human way to forgive is with our mouth, but in most cases is not with our heart. If forgiveness for a person’s trespass actually came from the heart, the trespass would never be mentioned again.

Let’s look for a moment at how God forgives our trespasses. For an example we look at what Hezekiah the King of Judah said in his prayer of thanks to God. Hezekiah thanked God saying “you have cast all my sins behind your back.” This is what God does when He forgives our sins and trespasses; He casts them behind His back where He can never see them again. It’s the same as if they never happened.

Now what we hear so often is that we are just human and can forgive, but we are not able to forget what someone has done to us. That is unfortunately true that being what we are, the act of forgetting something is not something we have control over. Although there is another way that is just as valid as and closer to the truth than we want to consider.

In this World that we live in there are two opposing forces that shape our lives and influence our actions. These are the forces of good and evil and exercise complete control over everything that we do and say. The good force in the World is the Spirit of God which influences the best of all of us and the other force is the spirit of the devil that influences us and causes us to do things which are not acceptable in the sight of God or man.

When God introduced the New Covenant which we are living under He  said that He would pour out His spirit on all mankind. This is a true reality in all of our lives. Each one of us who are part of the human race has a certain portion of God’s Spirit in us that influences the kind of life that we live. Without God’s Spirit, which is a good influence in our lives being present in every one of us, we would all be no better than an infidel being controlled by the devil and having no conscience which guides our daily actions and way of life. Fortunately, we all do have God’s Spirit in us and to a certain extent influences most of our lives and makes us a civilized society.

Then there is the opposing influence from the devil that enters into each of us at times and causes us to do not so good things and causes us to trespass and sin against other people. It is this evil spirit that we should look at and put the blame on for the wrong that we have endured instead of the specific person that has wronged us. If we really wanted to completely forgive a person from trespassing against us, which means to forgive and forget what that person has done to us, then the blame should be put on the one that it really belongs on which is the devil himself. We can forgive the person who has trespassed against with our heart as we forget that the cause was not of their true nature, but was a result of the evil spirit of the devil that entered into them.

Yes, I know that we make fun of the statement “the devil made me do it”, but that is the truth of the matter in all cases when someone does bad and evil things which are against the nature of the person who does it.

Take for an example from the Bible the man Judas Iscariot. Judas was a man chosen by Jesus to be one of the twelve original apostles. Now if this man had been inherently bad or evil, Jesus would not have chosen him to be a part of His ministry, but that was not the case because Judas was an equal to all the other apostles. Then came the day when the devil entered into him and caused him to betray Jesus and the devil’s influence prevailed. After Judas had transgressed against Jesus he did repent and without a doubt was forgiven by the Lord for what the devil caused him to do.

If a man that daily walked with Jesus and witnessed the works of God could be overtaken by the devil, where does that put us? I would say that the rest of us are even more vulnerable to the devil’s influence than Judas was. So what do you think, did God forgive Judas for what he had dons? I am sure that He did because God knew that it wasn’t Judas’ intention to harm Jesus, it was the devil’s doing. Just like God put Hezekiah’s trespasses behind Him to never look at them again, I believe He did the same with Judas’.

Again the scriptures give us another example about forgiveness. In Matthew 18:21-22 the Apostle Peter asked Jesus about how many times he should forgive someone that trespassed against him. Jesus told Peter that he should forgive the person seventy times seven times. Peter would have accepted forgiving the person seven times, but I’m certain that Jesus meant there was no limit on how many times you should forgive someone of their trespasses.

So here we stand in life saying that we can forgive, but are not able to forget about someone’s trespasses against us. If we can just realize that the real guilty party is the devil instead of the person who he entered into, are we able to forgive and forget what a person has done and still remember that it was caused by the devil in his attempt to cause the fall of every man, woman and child that he can.

It is with this reasoning and revelation from God that helps me to forgive those who have trespassed against me and not forget that the blame belongs to the true perpetrator of evil doings, the devil himself, knowing that God will avenge me at the end of days and not remember the trespasses that I have forgiven.

When you pray to God, remember to forgive others in the same manner that you want God to forgive you and put the trespasses of others behind you never to be brought forth again. If you can’t do that, then God won’t either.

The scripture says: If you don’t forgive others for their trespasses, neither will God forgive your trespasses and you will be in danger of hell fire losing your salvation.

Here is a wise word for all. Your failure to forgive someone that has trespassed against you does not harm the person who did the trespass, but forgiveness is for your benefit, for without it you have no chance of receiving the salvation of your soul. (ref: Matthew 18:34-35 paraphrased)

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