We all know forgiveness is important. In fact, if we have been a believer for any length of time we know that God commands us to forgive. But sometimes, we just don’t know how to do it or what it should look like.

So what is forgiveness? Does it require us to forget or to act like the hurt or the sin never happened? What does it mean to forgive as God forgives us?

Maybe you have questions, too. I hope to answer some of them in this post and the next. But if you have others, I hope you’ll ask them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer.

Rock Your Faith 5: What Is Forgiveness?

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Soul Survival and the “Rock Your Faith” series.

Summer has been especially busy this year, so it’s been a while since I first started this series. But, hopefully, I can finish over the next few weeks.

As I shared in the original post, something happened almost 20 years ago that rocked my husband’s and my walk with God. Though we are far from perfect, the principles we learned during that time and since then have impacted our lives greatly.

There is nothing special about us. If you are a believer in Christ, God has the same plan to grow and change you (Eph. 4.14-15). In fact, you may already be much farther down the road of spiritual maturity than we are. But, hopefully, each of you will glean some nuggets as we go through these principles.

Here are the previous posts in this series:

Rock Your Faith: The Danger of Self-Imposed Blindness

Rock Your Faith: Personal Accountability & Snowplow Parents

Rock Your Faith: Take God at His Word

If you missed any of them, just click on the links. Now on to forgiveness …

What Forgiveness Is Not

What is forgiveness? First, what it is not.

Forgiveness is not a feeling. There may be feelings involved, but feeling like forgiving is not a prerequisite. In fact, if we wait until we feel like it, it may never happen.

Forgiveness is not based on what the other person deserves. None of us deserve God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness. That what mercy and grace are all about.

Forgiveness is not forgetting. Some sins may never be forgotten. The Bible says that God chooses to not remember our sins (Jer. 31.34). That does not mean He forgets. Instead, He covers them and no longer holds them against us, but He doesn’t have amnesia.

Forgiveness is not just getting over something. There are some sins that we can let love cover (Prov. 10.12), but even then, we must make a choice to forgive. Others must be dealt with by biblical confrontation, the repentance of the other party, or in some cases a Spirit-empowered decision. I’ll talk more in the next post about the repentance or lack thereof from the other party. But let me just say that there is a level of forgiveness that is required, even without the other person’s repentance (Matt. 6.14-15).

Finally, forgiveness is not necessarily the removal of all consequences. If someone has broken the law, we may still need to report the crime or testify in court. If a spouse has committed adultery, regaining trust may take time. If someone has molested a child, it is not wise to allow them access to other children in the future. And there are many other circumstances where sin has consequences.

But even then revenge should never be our motive. God has a lot to say about that subject (Rom. 12.14-21). You can read more about revenge and how we fight back against evil here.

So what is forgiveness?

What Is Forgiveness?

First, forgiveness is a necessary part of life and relationships. Forgiveness is, also, costly. It involves giving up our right to seek revenge as I mentioned or to withhold love, affection or fellowship from another person.

Forgiveness is commanded (Eph. 4.32; Col. 3.13) and demonstrates an understanding of and appreciation for the fact that we have been forgiven (Matt. 18.21-35).

We could define it this way:

Forgiveness is a commitment to release someone from a debt. That debt may be financial, or it may be emotional, relational, physical or some other kind of wrongdoing. It’s a decision to not hold whatever it is against the other person. It’s an act of mercy, love, and grace toward the other person. And an act of obedience toward God.

When we refuse to forgive we damage our own relationship with God (Matt. 6.14-15) and often become bitter and angry. That anger and bitterness, if not dealt with, will eventually affect and damage other relationships, as well (Heb. 12.15).

Forgiveness is an essential part of a believer’s life before God. All of us have been sinned against in various ways and without a proper understanding of and obedience to God’s command, we will be greatly hindered in our walk and relationship with Him.

In the next post in this series, I’ll talk more about forgiveness, in particular, how to forgive and how repentance on the part of the other party is important.

And in future posts in this series, we will look at other principles and passages that have the potential to “Rock Your Faith.” Be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter so you won’t miss any of them.

Coming Up in the Daily Posts:

In the coming days, we’ll talk about contagious sins, the danger of the “sinner’s prayer,” what it means to be a miserable comforter, our impossible calling as believers, and our tendency to ask, “Why me?”

I hope you’ll join us. You can sign up for those, as well.

Blessings,
Donna

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.