I forgive you
The other day I was visiting a friend. While we were chatting, an incident occurred amongst the children playing that needed some words spoken. First, "I'm sorry" was said. The reponse? A very matter of fact: "That's okay. We forgive you. Blah, blah, blah." I started laughing as it caught me so off guard. But as I started to think about it more, the child's response alarmed me. Yes, I was glad she had said "we forgive you" but the other two statements were concerning.
Why?
#1 It is not okay. When we're saying "I forgive you", we are not saying what the other person did was okay or fine. It wasn't. If it was, then forgiveness wouldn't be warranted. Forgiveness is for sin, for things done (intentionally or unintentionally) that go against God's ways, for things that are not okay.
#2 "Blah, blah, blah..." When we extend forgiveness to someone, we are not engaging in some sort of psychobabble that doesn't really mean anything or make a difference. We are participating in the greatest drama involving humanity - the forgiveness of our sin through Christ. When we extend forgiveness to others, we are following the example of God (Eph. 4:32), we are obeying God (Col. 3:13), and we are trusting God to be the one who avenges (Rom. 12:19).
Forgiving others is an outflow of the forgiveness we have received. Jesus tells a story in Matthew 18:21-35 to illustrate this. It's a parable about a servant who owes a tremendous debt to the king. His debt is cancelled and he is free. The man then goes out and finds someone who owes him a small amount of money and demands it from him. When the king hears about this, he is extremely upset and punishes his servant severely. Jesus tells this parable to teach that we are to have mercy on others as God has on us and need to forgive others from the heart.
Why?
#1 It is not okay. When we're saying "I forgive you", we are not saying what the other person did was okay or fine. It wasn't. If it was, then forgiveness wouldn't be warranted. Forgiveness is for sin, for things done (intentionally or unintentionally) that go against God's ways, for things that are not okay.
#2 "Blah, blah, blah..." When we extend forgiveness to someone, we are not engaging in some sort of psychobabble that doesn't really mean anything or make a difference. We are participating in the greatest drama involving humanity - the forgiveness of our sin through Christ. When we extend forgiveness to others, we are following the example of God (Eph. 4:32), we are obeying God (Col. 3:13), and we are trusting God to be the one who avenges (Rom. 12:19).
Forgiving others is an outflow of the forgiveness we have received. Jesus tells a story in Matthew 18:21-35 to illustrate this. It's a parable about a servant who owes a tremendous debt to the king. His debt is cancelled and he is free. The man then goes out and finds someone who owes him a small amount of money and demands it from him. When the king hears about this, he is extremely upset and punishes his servant severely. Jesus tells this parable to teach that we are to have mercy on others as God has on us and need to forgive others from the heart.
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