Forgiving the Unforgivable
Self righteousness is a big issue nowadays. People care deeply about being “woke” and accepted by the world, more than they do about following God. Recently, I had someone close to me reject my ways of thinking because they were different, and in line with the Bible, leading them to also rejecting me. I know there is no truth in the accusations made, my family knows, my husband knows, my friends know, God knows. However, I still felt sad, at first. Sad that this person so clearly didn’t know me how I thought they did, sad that this friendship deteriorated and sad that they strayed so far from what the Bible teaches us. My sadness appeared in the form of tears to my husband at first, then I found it turning into anger and resentment. I caught this stirring up and shut it down. I don’t feel anger very often, so when I do, it’s easy to recognize it and work through it. I found myself at a place where I was praying and asking God to reveal some truth to me. All I could hear was “forgive”.
I’m sure we’ve all been in a place of being wronged by close friends before. I know I have, many times. It’s easy to get swept away in the bitterness and anger that comes with such betrayal, but it’s better to forgive. Not for them, but for you. Forgive because you don’t deserve to hold the bitterness behind their actions and words. It’s hard, especially when those who wrong us don’t apologize and never will. Pride is a detriment to a person’s soul, but that’s not your burden to carry. Forgive even if they’re not sorry. God calls us to forgive in Romans 12:17 where it says, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” We are called to do so “seventy times seven times”. (Matthew 18:22)
Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you have to take things back to how they once were. It doesn’t mean you need to seek out that relationship again and it doesn’t mean that you need to force a relationship where there is no longer one. It simply means you forgive like God because you’re trying everyday to be more like God. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean the hurt leaves, you’re allowed to still be hurt, and you probably will be, but you can then try to move forward and work through it with God. God’s forgiveness that comes to us needs to shine through us to extend to others and replicate that grace and mercy that we see so often. C.S. Lewis said, “Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.” We love to receive forgiveness but hesitate to extend it. Don’t let the surroundings of the world weaken your view of God and what He has in store for us.
Nothing is worth losing that. Nothing.
No one is worth betraying or denying God and His word. No one.
I want to challenge all of you to forgive.
Forgive.
Forgive them even if they’re not sorry.
xx,
Tay
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” C.S. Lewis