FORGIVENESS IS NOT OPTIONAL

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13, NIV)

Living with a chronic illness presents many opportunities to be unforgiving, unloving and just plain bitter.  Doctors and nurses are not as compassionate as we would like; friends forget about us; the church ignores us, and we often feel forgotten and abandoned by God.  To be quite honest, I have also struggled with these sins.  On more than one occasion, I even hated people in my heart that I felt should have helped me more during my years of sickness and debilitation.

Forgiveness is an act of the will, and Jesus has much to say about it.  In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus makes it clear that we are to ask God to forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors (Matt. 6:12).  Jesus also states that if we do not forgive men their sins, our Heavenly Father will not forgive our sins (v. 15).  The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:21-35) is also an excellent illustration of the above principle. Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness are very clear. 

In her book, Tramp for the Lord, Corrie Ten Boom gives an illustration of harboring an unforgiving heart.  She had just finished speaking to a group of people and a man walked up to her.  She immediately recognized him as one of the cruelest prison guards at Ravensbruck, the Nazi prison camp where she and her sister Betsy had been imprisoned during World War II.  Corrie was unable to shake this man’s hand without asking God to help her forgive him.  After praying, she felt an electric current run down the full length of her arm, and she was finally able to grasp his hand. 

Are you harboring unforgiveness and/or bitterness in your heart today? Perhaps you haven’t struggled with this as much as I have.  If not, you are very blessed!  I have discovered that I cannot have peace in my heart unless I forgive others as Christ has forgiven me (Col. 3:13), and I cannot please Christ with an unforgiving attitude.

Dear Father, give me grace to forgive others as You forgive me.