Forgiveness

For Christians, it is very easy for us to see people as "sinners."  When someone does us wrong we end up holding it against them and even say that they owe us for the wrong they did to us.  Many people get turned away from Christianity because we are very unforgiving, even if the whole message of Christianity is based off forgiveness!  But, we have our excuses; we say, "They have scarred me for life," or when trying to forgive ourselves we continue to focus on that thing that needs forgiven instead of forgetting it.  Forgiveness is not easy, it comes with a price.  Hopefully, some words from the Lord's Prayer will be encouraging and help you to search for forgiveness.

Jesus sums up forgiveness in one verse by saying, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12).  This is a tremendous switch from what most of us have been taught.  Some of us believe that if the other person forgives us then we are able to forgive them.  However, that logic does not really make sense because the other person is waiting for you to forgive them as well!  Jesus here says that "AS WE have forgive our debtors," so we will be forgiven.

The Greek phrasing of this verse says,

Kaiv a[feV hJmi:n ta; ojfeilhvmata hJmw:n, wJV kai; hJmei:V ajfhvkamen toi:V ojfeilevtaiV hJmw:n`

The word forgiveness comes from the word, a[fesiV, which simply means, "forgiveness, pardon."  When looking at the word a[feV, it is recognized as a verb that is in an imperative.  An imperative verb in the Greek language adds emphasis to the word.  Almost like adding an exclamation point right next to the word.  This is not the same as the other word for forgiveness, ajfhvkamen, because this word is simply recognized as a verb.  But, this verb also is in the plural form saying that "we forgave."  I understand the "we" here to point to Jesus and the disciples praying, as well as identifying all of creation as this "we."  We all should be people of forgiveness and be willing to be the ones that take the first step to forgive.

Forgiveness is a hard thing to be able to do.  What I find amazing about this sentence is that we are all called to forgive.  When two people are involved in a conflict, neither one is excused from forgiving the other no matter what happened.  That is not the easiest thing to understand, but I believe that forgiveness comes from two things, forgiving oneself and seeking for forgiveness from the other person.

Forgiving oneself.   This one is the hardest to accomplish.  We feel that we are left broken and find no hope in doing anything right in life.  We become so skeptical of ourselves that often we begin to find comfort in other things to try to get away from hurt that often does not help.  Sometimes, we need to find help from others to find forgiveness for ourselves.  It takes opening up to others with what happened and seeking guidance to be able to forgive yourself.  Praying is also another huge area to find peace with both God and yourself.

Seeking Forgiveness.  Once you have forgiven yourself, it makes the process of asking the other person to forgive you a little bit easier.  This part is important because that other person may need to know that you have forgiven them to be able to forgive themselves as well.  Do not neglect this part once you have forgiven yourself.  It may be what you need to finally forgive yourself as well.