Some Reflections on Forgiveness

In reflecting on what forgiveness is, two assurances from God come to my mind:  first, God's promise to us of new life in and through Jesus Christ, and then the Scripture verse in 1 John 1:9, which says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."(NIV)


If we try to follow the example of Jesus, who always sought to do His Father's will rather than His own, we have the foundation for being in a right relationship with God, with ourselves, and with other people. If we are mindful of our sins--sin being anything that separates us from God--and regularly confess them to God, we can be freed from our own self-centeredness, and also from attitudes and actions that can damage both ourselves and others.  We have the assurance that God will forgive us if we do these things.  This assurance of God's unfathomable love for us will also help us to forgive ourselves for our sins and failures, so that we can accept God's forgiveness and experience the abundance God desires for us.


Our ability to forgive other people who have hurt us is another aspect of forgiveness and it is also a necessary part of our life in Christ. This is sometimes a very difficult task.  I found this quote from Barbara Crafton, which I think is very helpful in addressing our difficulty with forgiveness:  "We begin to forgive by deciding, not by feeling. It is a theological decision, not one guided by the human limitations we must ordinarily take into consideration when we decide about many other things, like which school to attend or which car to buy. We make the decision to forgive knowing that we lack the power to carry it out, and so we make it asking for that power to be given to us as God wills. Our feelings don’t lead us to forgiveness; they usually lead us in the opposite direction." (Barbara Crafton, "Forgiveness:  What It Is and What It Isn't")


As Crafton goes on to confirm, God knows that we are vulnerable and that deep wounds may be impossible to forget. Our ability to forgive others can sometimes involve a long process. But if we ask for God's help,through Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit, God will enable us to forgive those who have caused us pain. And of course, we are helped by recalling the example of Jesus himself, who asked God to forgive the very people who sentenced him to death on a cross.


During this Lenten season, as we ponder the life, passion, death,and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us ask God for a deeper experience of God's forgiveness and for a greater capacity to forgive ourselves and others. And let us remember that the freedom of forgiveness is what God wants for us.