What is Forgiveness? And is it important for us?
But is God fooled by such?
Is there ever a place where we can escape His penetrating gaze?
Does He not see the secret meditation of revenge or the bitter hatred behind the nice smile?
Since when is He impressed with mere words when hearts do not match?
To forgive somebody is to take away his guilt. As a result, anger against him and the desire for punishment are also taken away. When God forgives us, He declares us "Not guilty" and takes away the wrath and punishment we deserve. This is the same thing we should do towards those we forgive.
What does Bible say about forgiving ?
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.
Matthew 6:14-15
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
23
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there
remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying
‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Have we forgiven really ?
Though we think we have forgiven from our heart, most of us are unable to forget what the other person did. So does it meant that we have not forgiven them ?
We must be realistic. As long as our brain is functioning well, we will not be able to deliberately forget anything. The more we try to forget it, the more firmly rooted it becomes in our mind! But God does not ask us to forget it. He asks us to forgive the other person from the heart as explained above.
The devil is also not going to let you forget your hurt in a hurry! He will keep reminding you again and again about how much you have had to suffer, how evil it was of the other person to do this to you, etc.! But he will go away after sometime if he finds that you are not responding to him. Each time you resist his suggestions, you will find that the power of the temptation becomes less and less, till finally it stops bothering you.
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Luke 17:3-4
3 So watch yourselves.“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying
‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Have we forgiven really ?
Though we think we have forgiven from our heart, most of us are unable to forget what the other person did. So does it meant that we have not forgiven them ?
We must be realistic. As long as our brain is functioning well, we will not be able to deliberately forget anything. The more we try to forget it, the more firmly rooted it becomes in our mind! But God does not ask us to forget it. He asks us to forgive the other person from the heart as explained above.
The devil is also not going to let you forget your hurt in a hurry! He will keep reminding you again and again about how much you have had to suffer, how evil it was of the other person to do this to you, etc.! But he will go away after sometime if he finds that you are not responding to him. Each time you resist his suggestions, you will find that the power of the temptation becomes less and less, till finally it stops bothering you.
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Credits
http://www.c-n-c.org/faqforgiv.htm
http://www.biblegateway.com/
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