Forgiveness

 February 18, 2023

Forgiveness is tricky and serious business. Just the other day in our newspapers we read of the sentencing of the young man who murdered all the black men and women at the Tops store in Buffalo. He will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. One of the family members of one of those slain said she will never forgive him for what he did—an understandable, yet tragic response. 

Sadly, such unforgiveness has the unforeseen consequences of binding her to the one person in this world she wants to distance herself from. The pain is raw and real, so I am not trying to judge her, but wish her to be free from the nightmares and the bitterness that so often accompanies holding onto one’s anger and grief. I pray to that end.

I’ve not had a family member murdered, but I have experienced significant sin against those I love dearest. It took a long time to work through the anger, the desire for revenge. Countless times, I would find myself thinking about the matter, plotting murder in my heart. Countless times, I would confess and ask forgiveness from the Lord, crying out that this isn’t the kind of man I wanted to be, choosing to let go instead of hold on. And every time I did so, I walked away a bit more free…at least until I picked it up again. Then the process would repeat itself, over and over until finally it no longer had a hold on me. I discovered that I couldn’t forgive on my own; I didn’t have it in me. I could only give what I had received, and that only came through Jesus Christ who forgave all my sins and gave me the ability to forgive others.

Those who have followed Jesus for any length of time can easily be in danger of forgetting their need for forgiveness. The grosser sins of lust, greed, theft, adultery, murder, and such have long been left in the dust, but the more subtle sins of envy, sloth, jealousy, pride, judgmentalism, apathy and the like continue to entangle our hearts in their slimy web. 

When Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed for God to grace it with his presence. Interestingly, asking God’s blessing wasn’t at the heart of his prayer. Repeatedly, he says, “When we sin…hear from heaven and forgive” (1 Kings 8). Unlike us who often see ourselves progressing upwards, Solomon in the wisdom God gave him understood the human heart and the need for continuing repentance and forgiveness.

The Asbury Awakening happening now isn’t focused on charismatic gifts, evangelistic preaching, or doctrinal details. Reports coming from Wilmore, KY are that this is a revival of repentance and confession, of prayers for forgiveness. If so, it holds promise of bringing much needed and more lasting transformation of the Church than we have seen in a generation, for forgiveness has the power to actually set people free. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  —John 8:36. May we become free indeed!