Friday, January 23, 2015
It took living in a third world country for me to learn what true
forgiveness looks like. Not because I’d
never had anything or anyone to forgive, but because what I’d had to forgive in
the past was not difficult. Not because
I am a saint, by any means, but because the affronts were quickly forgotten. They were not worth dwelling on or ruining a
relationship over, and they were not so extreme or awful as to cause lasting
hurt to me.
I love Haiti. I love the people
of Haiti. I would not live
here if that fact was not true. But I
soon learned that calling Haiti the “Land of Contrast” isn’t just describing its
outward appearance and situation. Haiti’s
contrasts extend to the attitudes of its people and even to the emotions it
elicits in those who are trying to help it.
In Haiti I soon learned what it was like to be betrayed by those whom
you thought you could really trust. I
learned that someone could hate you just because. No reason.
At least no logically explainable reason. I learned how rumors and gossip can cause
damage to reputations to a near-irreparable point. I learned how those in power could use fear
to control those under them and claim they were just doing their job. I learned how fear can hold someone in a grip
so tight they simply cannot get loose without help.
When each of these things and more hit me personally it was one thing,
but when they affected those I loved, cared for, and strove to help I nearly
buckled under the weight of the unforgiving spirit I began to harbor. I could not stand seeing my loved ones being
treated in such a way. It was the first
time I had ever had to fight against bitterness and hate. It scared me.
I didn’t know I had such things in myself. But I also believed that my feelings were
justified. These offenses were against
God’s anointed! Surely such acts were
unforgivable from a human standpoint!
Slowly and painfully I learned my lesson. God showed me that He was the only One in
whom such feelings were justified. By
hating and judging fellow sinners I was taking His job upon myself and uprooting
His authority in my life and in the offenders’ lives. God, faultless, sinless, perfect, is the only
truly just Judge. The sins, the
offenses, were not against people. They were
committed against God Himself.
And yet…God forgives. God forgave. Already knowing everything that would be said
against Him, every hateful act that would be done against Him and His annointed,
every evil deed that would be done in His name to ruin His reputation, He forgave.
Learning how to forgive gave me a new perspective on God’s
forgiveness. I only had to forgive the
offenses that were done against me and my loved ones. God had the sins of the entire world, and His
grace was sufficient. His mercy was
abundant.
What is forgiveness, anyway? Does
it mean we forget an offense and never remember it again? Does it mean we excuse it as if it didn’t
even happen? Those misconceptions were
what made it so difficult for me to forgive in the beginning, because I couldn’t
forget it and I couldn’t excuse it. It
was not humanly possible. It wasn’t
until I read this description that I was able to put it into words in my mind:
“When we forgive a debt or an offense or an
injury, we don’t require
a payment for settlement. That would be the opposite of forgiveness.
If repayment is made to us for what we lost,
there is no need
for forgiveness. We have our due.
Forgiveness assumes grace. If I am injured by you, grace lets it go.
I don’t sue you. I forgive you. Grace gives what someone doesn’t deserve.
That’s why forgiveness has the word give
in it. Forgiveness is not “getting” even.
It is giving away the right to get even.
Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not
the root,
of being forgiven. That’s why we call it grace. But it cost Jesus His life.
That is why we call it just. Oh, how precious is the news that God does
not
hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made
it
right for God to do this.”
(50 Reasons Why Jesus
Came to Die – John Piper)
Forgiveness. I am forgiven. Forgiven and free. Free to forgive. All glory to Him.
