This is the first of a 6-part series on forgiveness.

      I once heard a story of a young woman who came to church and gave her life to Christ.  She was transformed and changed by God’s forgiveness. Her path was straightened when she loved Jesus and God’s word.  She was discipled and everyone saw that it was a true transformation. The trouble came when the young woman caught the pastor’s son’s eye and they became engaged.  You see, her past was full of alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.

     As the story goes, the church became divided about the matter and they held a meeting concerning the relationship.  The meeting got out of hand and the pastor’s son couldn’t stand to see his fiance’s heart being broken.

      He began to speak and his statement went something like this – ” My fiance’s past is not what is on trial here.  What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial.  So, does it wash away sin or not?”   

     We need to think about these kinds of situations and ask ourselves if we would be forgiving or not if we found ourselves there.  Why is it that we have so much more trouble forgiving than God does? We are called to forgive as He forgave us, yet it seems difficult for us to do.  It has to do with our sinful nature – even though we are saved, we battle it. In Romans 7:15-20, Paul spoke of this when he said the things he should do, he doesn’t, and the things he shouldn’t do, he does.

     I have a friend from India who told me that they have a saying there that goes, “The sheep will always run to the butcher.”  It means we will run to the very thing that kills us. Think about it. We sometimes run to the thing that will kill us emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically.   Even if we know it is killing us, we continue to go to it.  

     For example, the mother of a good friend of mine was in the hospital for cancer.  She was released, and on the way home, she asked her niece to stop by and buy her some cigarettes.  She knew it was killing her, but she wanted them anyway. In the same way, unforgiveness is a killer.  It will kill you emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically. 

     The ironic thing about it is that often, the person you refuse to forgive probably isn’t even aware that they have offended or hurt you.. Even if they are, your unforgiveness is still most likely doing more damage to you than to them. Also, because the lack of forgiveness affects you mentally, spiritually, and physically, it will also affect your family and every person you relate to.  Lack of forgiveness also binds us to another person, whether we want it to or not. This bond can be stronger than steel.

     Our willingness to forgive or not forgive exposes who we are at the core.  If we are followers of Christ, that means He has forgiven our sins… all of them.  At the great exchange of our souls, we bring only a repentant heart and absolutely nothing else. .  We exchange our sins for the life of Jesus Christ. At this exchange, we feel the weight of all we’ve done wrong lifted from our shoulders.  There is great relief and release when forgiveness happens. This forgiveness from God through His son Jesus Christ is an example of how we are to live our lives. 

      If Christ truly resides in us, then we are to be forgivers of others.  The Bible is very clear on this. We’ll be covering what the Bible says, but for now, I’ll leave you with this:  Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.   But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  So how are you doing? If you want an easy first place to start, start with your spouse.  The best marriages are made up of forgivers.

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