Why should we forgive?

Why is it important to forgive? Is it important to forgive because we want to prove that we are better than others? Is it important to forgive because we want to prove how good we are? We often say unpleasant things; we do things that are unkind. Often we don’t realise how we may offend someone. But we get offended when we are at the receiving end. And in those moments forgiveness is not at the forefront of our conscience.

We all know that it is hard to forgive. Forgiving someone is often misconstrued as a sign of weakness. Our flesh is in profound opposition to the idea*. We often want to forgive but our hurt egos and wounded pride hold us back. Impulsively we get back to those who’ve hurt us, knowingly or unknowingly, trying to maintain the ‘good’ image that we think people have of us. But this is simply one side of the story.

When we sin against God, do we expect God to forgive us? Absolutely! We not only expect Him to forgive us once or twice, we want Him to forgive us every time we sin against Him. We believe that Christ was crucified for our sins so on the basis of our belief in Christ, we expect God to forgive us. We want others to forgive us as well but we’re reluctant to forgive others. Jesus taught in Mt. 6:14-15, “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” We expect to be forgiven but we’re not always willing to forgive. As Christians we forget the Lord’s prayer though we pray it time and again - “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Most of us learn this prayer from a very young age. But do we take it seriously? Do we really mean what we pray? We want God to forgive us. We expect others to forgive us but in reality we are not willing to forgive others. Scripture teaches in Mt. 7:3-5 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” We use a magnifying glass to look at others but we expect others to look at us with rose coloured glasses. We expect others to be more gracious to us than we are to them. The Bible teaches, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also for them, for this is the law and the Prophets” - Mt. 7:12, Lk. 6:31. Do we wish that others would be kind to us despite our shortcomings? Are we kind towards others? Do we like to follow what we have been asked to do or do we think that rules are meant to be broken? As a child I used to think like that. But if we break the rules then we have to bear the consequences. How much more important it is to obey then what God has commanded us in the Scripture? Mt 5:44-45, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Our Lord always sets an example before He asks us to do anything. If we ask Him for forgiveness, He is faithful to forgive and in return He expects the same from us. If we are forgiven then we should forgive others also. Before commanding us to love our enemies, God has already loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). And this Jesus taught us how to live and ultimately have eternal life.

Jesus taught in Mk. 11:25-26, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you your transgressions.” So here we are asked to forgive anything against anyone. We have to forgive others so that we are forgiven by God. As Jesus forgives us, we need to forgive others. We need to obey Him. We need to forgive others despite their transgressions against us. We are not alone in this. In our flesh we are unable to do this but through his grace and with the Holy Spirit’s help, we certainly can. God has given us His Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Helper who not only heals our hurt egos and wounded pride but also gives us the strength to forgive^. We should forgive our enemies. Forgiveness therefore is to act like God. No act is more divine than the act of forgiveness. Never are we more like God than when we forgive.

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* The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.(Mt. 26:41) ^ The Spirit helps us in our weakness.(Rom. 8:26)

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