Greetings, Friends!

Forgiveness. It’s a huge word in Christianity. We all sin, and sin creates a debt…but it is a debt we cannot pay. So, Christ paid it for us. “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (I Peter 2:24). I John 1:9 builds on that truth, saying, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

This is amazing news! We can be forgiven because of Jesus’ sacrifice – we just have to ask.

But there’s a catch. File it under “Turnabout Is Fair Play.” Jesus says in Matthew 6:15, “But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Ouch.

The theme of forgiving others has shown up several times in the past few weeks in my devotions, my reading, and sermons I’ve listened to. (I wonder if God is trying to tell me something?) The idea isn’t new to me. I know I have to forgive others. I know I cannot be forgiven if I don’t forgive others. I’ve preached this!

But I’ve often wondered, “What does forgiveness look like?” I’m guessing you’ve wondered that, too. Last week, John Piper gave me an answer. In one of his sermons, he asks and answers this very question by referring to the book Body of Divinity by Thomas Watson. Watson says that forgiving someone means:

1. Resisting revenge

2. Not returning evil for evil

3. Wishing them well

4. Grieving at their calamities

5. Praying for their welfare

6. Seeking reconciliation (as far as it is up to you)

7. Coming to their aid in distress

That’s the most practical advice I’ve ever seen on forgiving someone. Of course, every behavior on that list is something we don’t feel like doing for someone who has hurt us. And if we wait until we feel like doing these things, well, that time will never come. Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is, in the end, an act of obedience to God. We remind ourselves of this each Sunday when we recite the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Pastor Rich