~Matthew 7:1-2
This is a challenging verse. This is a challenging concept. Forgiveness.
I'd say about half the challenges I help people deal with as a pastor has to do with forgiveness. When people do us the wrong way, it's not easy to let it go. But that's what we're called on to do. And the consequences for not learning to let the sins of others go, is that our sins will not be forgiven. That is a very steep penalty for holding onto those hurts, isn't it? That doesn't even take into account the personal cost to us--that emotional cost of carry those hurts with us rather than give them up.
But it's not easy to let go of those hurts for a few reasons.
We all make mistakes. One of the most difficult things for us to do sometimes, is to admit when we've made a mistake. If we could simply admit it when we're wrong, so many of the conflicts we deal with in life would disappear. So many of the conflicts we've had wouldn't have occurred at all, if we'd simply apologized and admitted the error. But we don't do that. We justify an error. We cover an error. We minimize an error. We blame the person that error hurt for being over sensitive. We do everything except what is right, and true, and honest. Admit it.
"I made a mistake. I'm sorry."
Another reason forgiveness is so challenging is we have an expectation that it will be reciprocated. But that's not what this verse says at all. If somebody is angry with you, that anger isn't always reasonable. They may never get over it. You can apologize, and you can forgive them, but they may never admit any fault of their own, and they may never let it go. We can fix a lot of disagreements in our life, but there are some we may not ever be able to fix.
We must make a decision in our hearts and in our minds that we're not going to carry anger and unforgiveness with us, and simply and habitually learn to accept that which we can not change. Whatever it may be. No matter how hard that is. Without any strings attached. And that's exactly what Jesus is saying here. Forgive.
These verses are about what you need to do, not what they need to do. This is all about you. About your Christian heart. About how you're going to live your life. Many of the conflicts we experience in our lives we are able to work out. We are able to get over that disagreement and move on in the relationship. But how we deal with those conflicts we can't resolve. What we do in those situations shows our true heart.
And one more thing. No matter how impossible a difficult relationship seems. No matter how unlikely it seems a conflict in our life will ever be resolved. Never stop praying about it. Never give up hope that one day it will be resolved. Never stop reaching out no matter how hard the heart of that person may be towards you. I've seen it happen many times. If you stay open, sometimes the Spirit will go to work on that person, and peace and love will win out in the end.
~Pastor Todd Creason
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