Forgiveness (swiped from a friend of a friend's blog)

This posting was written by a friend of a friend. I found it on her blog site (abide247.blogspot.com) and it spoke to me so much, I decided to post it on my site as well. Sara/Tiffany, I hope you don't mind!

Forgiveness
"Forgiveness is the key which unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness. The forgiveness of Jesus not only takes away our sins, it makes them as if they had never been." Corrie Ten Boon

I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness. It has come up on several occasions and in many recent conversations. Why is it so difficult to forgive? Do we honestly think that holding a grudge is hurting the other person? I can't for the life of me understand why we refuse forgiveness. Do we think that we are that important?"Forgive us our trespasses," Jesus taught us to pray, "as we forgive those who trespass against us."

I was reading a sermon the other day with the message of forgiveness. The preacher described our attitude toward forgiveness as being scarce, yet desperately needed. He went on to say, "we bury the hatchet with people, but then we keep a road map of exactly where we buried it. We put our resentments in cold storage, but we're ready to let them thaw out again whenever we need them. We take grudges down to the lake to drown them, but we remember the location in the water so we can find them again. We take the cancelled note, tear it up and say, 'They don't owe us anything anymore,' but we hang onto the wastebasket." His point is that we talk about forgiveness because it is a nice idea, but we do not actually forgive. Is this how we want God to forgive us?

Forgiveness is a release of responsibility. When we give forgiveness we say to the other person, "I don't hold it against you." When we forgive someone, the relationship becomes more important than our rights. There may still be consequences associated with the person's behavior but it is not our job to punish him/her. Vengeance is never the right option. When we withhold forgiveness we are not trusting God. Or at least, we are not trusting in the right God. God is big enough to take care of the injustices in our lives. God is big enough to deal with those who are unkind and unloving. Our faith must be in a BIG God! There is nothing small about a God who commands us to look into the eyes of someone who has wronged us and utter the words, "I forgive you."

Forgiveness is necessary for healthy living. This past Christmas a friend of mine shared that her mother in law experiences many different aches and pains that the doctors simply can not explain. As my friend told about the woman's past failed marriage and bitterness towards her ex-husband, it became clear to me that her physical discomfort comes directly from her unwillingness to forgive. The seed of unforgiveness is a poison. Often we think that we are punishing the other person for wrongdoing. We hold a grudge, hoping to hurt that person. Ultimately we hurt ourselves and cause pain to those who love us.

Forgiveness is also necessary for community. We don't practice much confession within our churches today. The greatest tragedy of this is that we do not experience forgiveness as we should. The church, of all places, must be a place to find forgiveness. Forgiveness brings healing. Healing brings hope. We all need hope.
posted by Sarah @ 1:16 PM