More...Forgiveness

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate

hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one

another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each

other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above

all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were

called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:12-14

I grew up in a home marked by grudges. My father was notorious for holding grudges. He refused to release those who offended him (and he seemed to be offended often). Even as a young child without much training in the wisdom and discernment that God teaches in His Word this didn’t seem to line up well with what I knew about God. But in the minds of my parents it was acceptable to hold grudges, perhaps because they wanted everyone to  consider them perfect. I don’t know exactly where this line of thinking materialized or why people who held so stiffly to God’s Word would ignore command after command to forgive. And forgive. And forgive again and again and again. (see Matthew 18:21-35) Perhaps they thought that “perfection” excused them? But that doesn’t make sense given that Jesus regularly forgave people and commanded it as well. (Matthew 6:12-15, Matthew 9:1-13, Mark 2:1-12, Mark 11:25, Luke 5:17-26, Luke 7:41-50, Luke 17:3-4, Luke 23:34, Luke 24:44-48, John 8:3-11) And He was certainly perfect!

I was not free from this scorn. Blame was frequently laid upon me even when I was not the offending party, along with any commensurate punishment that was deemed appropriate - usually a spanking with a three-inch, doubled-over, heavy leather strap used to hold milking machines. I don’t remember too many days I wasn’t the recipient of the strap! How does one respond to that, especially given that my emotional wound resurfaces over and over again? The answer in the Bible is clear. Forgive. I preach this to myself even as I write it and and do so after a particularly difficult emotional weekend with so much heartache resurfacing.

Forgiveness is not an easy mandate. I know this all too well. But it is life-giving. And here’s why.

Forgiveness acknowledges the sin. I’ve heard people say that if they forgive then it’s like saying they weren’t sinned against. Contrary to that line of thinking, if forgiveness is needed it is because a wrong has been done. Forgiveness is the act of relinquishing claim for an offense committed. You let go. Letting go is life-giving; holding a grudge lends to making you bitter, mean and cantankerous.

Forgiveness is based neither on the sin nor the sinner. It would take super-human effort to do so. Rather forgiveness is based on the One who forgave us. That is why Paul can so confidently exclaim, “if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13) Forgive as Jesus forgave. This leads to the next point.

Forgiveness is sacrificial. It costs us something. It cost Jesus His life to forgive us. It may cost us the right to revenge but it gives us the ability to enjoy peace and restoration, both in happiness and relationships . But not forgiving costs more! Holding grudges causes bitterness to be a constant companion and bitterness acts like poison to your soul. My father is a veritable Eeyore after so many years of holding onto unforgiveness, suffering losses in both happiness and relationships.

Forgiveness reflects God’s character of love. It is the loving thing to do. It is what God accomplished through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It is what God does for us every day of our lives as the imperfections of our heart, sometimes visible only to Him, offend Him again and again.

And finally, forgiveness leads to thankfulness. When we forgive, we are reminded that we have been forgiven! We are made aware that we can now live in freedom!!!! And doesn’t that just make you smile?!?!

Perhaps the offense against you is particularly egregious...forgive. Perhaps you just feel animosity toward someone and you don’t even know why...forgive, both yourself and the thing that stands between you. Perhaps...fill in the blank...forgive. Forgiveness isn’t a suggestion. It is an expected way of life for a believer of Jesus. If I want more God, I need to forgive more! And that’s all the reason we need to do it!

Today I leave you with the words from a Matthew West song called “Forgiveness.”

It’s the hardest thing to give away

And the last thing on your mind today

It always goes to those who don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel

When they pain they caused is just too real

Takes everything you have to say the word

Forgiveness, forgiveness

It flies in the face of all your pride

It moves away the mad inside

It’s always anger’s own worst enemy

Even when the jury and the judge

Say you’ve got a right to hold a grudge

It’s the whisper in your ear saying set it free

Forgiveness, forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable

Show me how to reach the unreachable

Help me now to do the impossible

Forgiveness, forgiveness

It’ll clear the bitterness away

It can even set a prisoner free

There is no end to what its power can do

So let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace

The prisoner that it really frees is you

Forgiveness

More...Enlightenment

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my

prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of

glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in

the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,

what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward

us who believe, according to the working of his great might

that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead

and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.   

Ephesians 1:16-20

If I rise in the night and look out my back window I can see the outline of trees and the fence at the back of my yard.  You see, over the hill beyond where I live is a burrough that gives off a faint light that gives a lightened glow to my back yard even after the sun has made its departure from the daytime sky.  But bring on the illumination the sun delivers! It’s a game changer! Suddenly I am able to see that there is goldenrod nodding at me behind my neighbor's yard and blackberries growing again over my fence and wily weeds that have grown in the abundance of rain we’ve had.  Light reveals everything!

Paul spent over two years in Ephesus, establishing the church there.  He ministered to these believers longer than he had anywhere else. He knew them well.  When he sits down to write a letter to them he starts with a reminder to them of all the blessings they had been given in Christ.  Undoubtedly they had already been taught about these blessings. (Ephesians 1:3-14) He then writes out a prayer he has been praying to God over them.  He starts his prayer asking that God would give his readers “the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.”   He essentially asks God to awaken their spirits by the power of His Spirit in bringing them illumination concerning everything they had been taught.

It is Holy Spirit who shines His light into our lives.  Paul understands this. He’s experienced it and he wants his little flock to understand it too.  There are three specific areas Paul would like to see his readers to grow in understanding.

First, he wants them to “know what is the hope to which he has called you.” (Ephesians 1:18) I suspect for all of us this is an area that is constant need of growth.  As our eyes are enlightened we are able to gain more hope and see more clearly how God is blessing us with those spirituals blessings Paul has been talking about it. Paul uses is the Greek word oida when he asks that these believers “know.”  It conveys the idea of a cherished, skilled understanding, an experiential understanding of their calling.  This is enlightenment in action!

Second, Paul wants them to know “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18) Again this is a cherished understanding he’s asking for.  He wants us to know that Christ’s death on the cross has given us the inheritance of God Himself, the greatest treasure we could possibly hope for!!

And last, Paul wants us to gain a cherished experience of Christ’s power poured out in us.  He asks that we know “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:19) We aren’t alone and we’ve got the immeasurable force of all of God’s resources with us!  When Holy Spirit shines light on all of these riches we can see the details of God’s power poured out on us.

Are you aware of all that God wants for you?  Do you understand the depth of the riches he has laid out for you?  The light that the Holy Spirit brings to the eyes of our hearts helps us gain more of God - because we’re able to perceive more of Him!  It’s the details of His heart, illumined by the Spirit that give us unspeakable joy in having Him as our treasure. If you’re not experiencing this type of spiritual vitality, I’d encourage you to pray this prayer over yourself.  Paul’s prayer is a good model for our own desire for more of God!