Wrongs disguised as rights.
"You have the right
to hate them after what they put you through."
"You have the right
to be angry at him for what he did."
“You have every right to
never speak to her again after what she said."
These
are words we have all heard when we have been treated unjustly. When we confide in
friends and relatives about our troubles, they often sympathize with us and
reaffirm our right to nourish anger, bitterness and resentment toward
others.
But
wait, let's consider this. Are these “rights” scriptural? Does scripture affirm
our “right” to hang onto anger, unforgiveness and resentment towards others
when we’ve been mistreated?
No
matter how hard we try to justify withholding forgiveness from others, deep
down we all know this isn’t true. We all know that Jesus is mercy
personified and was unwavering in his teachings on forgiveness. The word of
God tells us repeatedly that we have no right to be angry, bitter, malicious or
vengeful. The only God-given right that we have when treated badly is to
forgive our neighbor from our heart. The only God-given right we have when we
see faults in others is to overlook them.
In
fact, the great evangelist, Paul, taught us that when we hang onto anger, bitterness
and resentment, we grieve the Holy Spirit, causing Him great emotional
distress, heartache and sorrow.
“Do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you,
with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, as God in Christ forgave you,”
(Ephesians 4:30-32).
Let’s
examine scripture and allow our mindsets and attitudes to be washed clean and
purified by the Word of God so that we may become truly holy.
“Christ loved the Church and gave
himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he
might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Jesus Generously Offers Forgiveness
Jesus generously offered forgiveness to sinners,
stating simply “Your sins are forgiven,” (Matt 9:2, Mk 2:9, Lk 5:20, Lk 7:48). He said these beautiful words of
mercy to the paralytic and to the woman weeping and kissing his feet, and was
equally merciful to the woman caught in adultery.
He offered forgiveness to the thief at his side as he looked at him and said, "Truly, I say to you, today
you will be with me in Paradise,” (Luke 23:43).
He even indirectly prayed for the forgiveness of
those who mocked him, insulted him, stripped him naked and crucified him saying
“Father, forgive them; for they know not
what they are doing,” (Luke 23:34).
….and, in every moment, Jesus willingly offers the
same generous forgiveness to us.
Jesus Teaches Us To Forgive As He Does
“But I say to who that
hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse
you, pray for those who abuse you,” (Luke
6:27-28).
Jesus
places no limits on his command that we extend forgiveness from our hearts,
even to those we count as our enemies. Whether our lives have been marked by
abandonment, abuse, criticism, injustice, war, kidnapping, addiction, adultery,
betrayal, racism or other forms of heartless cruelty, his command is the same.
We are to mirror the merciful heart of our Father in heaven.
“Love your enemies, and
do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the
selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” (Luke 6:35-36).
Jesus Extends An Awesome Promise To Us
A
wonderful reward of developing a forgiving heart is an assurance of divine
forgiveness.
“Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,” (Matthew 5:1).
“If you forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,” (Matthew 6:14).
“Whenever you stand
praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father
also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses,” (Mark 11:25).
“Judge not, and you
will not be judged;
Condemn not and you
will not be condemned;
Forgive, and you will
be forgiven,' (Luke 6: 37).
A Beautiful Example In The First Martyr, Stephen
Let’s give up our
“rights” to be angry and bitter and instead follow the teachings of Christ.
Let’s strive to become like Stephen who had the face of an angel (see Acts
6:15) and imitated Christ’s forgiving heart perfectly. As he was being stoned
to death, Stephen “knelt down and cried
out with a loud voice 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them,'" (Acts 7:59-60).
Just moments
before his death, Stephen, “full of the
Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God” (Acts 7:55).
Is it possible
that Jesus stood up to welcome
Stephen into heaven because he had a forgiving heart that mirrored His
heart? A standing ovation from Jesus Christ! That in itself is a wonderful
motivation to practice forgiveness!
Let’s meditate on
Christ’s teachings day and night, put his teachings of forgiveness into
practice, and make our hearts so pure and loving that Jesus says to us: “You are already made clean by the word
which I have spoken to you,” (John 15:3).
With his grace,
we can forgive the unthinkable and receive indescribable rewards in
heaven...and perhaps even a standing ovation!
**I highly recommend that you read “Total Forgiveness” by R. T.
Kendall which gives the best explanation of forgiveness that I’ve ever come
across. It has changed my heart immensely.
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