A word from heaven.

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Forgiveness

I have to admit on this. By nature, i find it hard to forgive people when i feel wronged. When people do not meet the minimum standard i ask for, and when people say things that hurt me, or when people disappoint me in a certain area again and again. I find it hard to forgive them.

In fact, there are many times i could have chosen to simply say ok, its over le, i forgive you. but somehow i refuse to give in. It is as though i'm losing out or getting a worse deal then i should or a piece of flesh is cut away from me. I'm not sure about you but there are times i certain fail and i blow at people and at other times i'll bear a grudge against someone.

Sometimes the devil in me wants to get back at them. It wants to get even with them if not give them back a double portion of the disappointment i endured as a result of their action. Come on, they hurt me, so by right i have every reason to do things to hurt them back. Sometimes even though i know that it is not their fault, i still want to get back at them to let them know the "suffering" i underwent so that someone can join my pity party. Sometimes, i just want to show them who is the king. I find it so hard to forgive.

If i find it hard to forgive people who hurt me, what about God? The creator of all heaven and earth who had to endure the humiliation of being mocked at, being spat at and belittled. Christ has taught us much with regard to this topic.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Matthew 18:21-22

The 77 times does not literally to a number but it refers to a completed number. It means countless times. Who in the world have the right to say this but the person who forgave us that same number of times?

Jesus warns us about this as well

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:14-15

Paul described his anguish with struggling with sin.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Romans 7:15-19

As i struggled with forgiving, time and again falling into what Paul described in Romans 7, i hold on to the promise in Romans 8 that

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Romans 8:1

It states explicitly, "for those who are in Christ Jesus". So i have to ensure that i stay in Christ Jesus for there not to be condemnation right? As i struggle with sin, with forgiveness, i thank God for his grace and his mercy in my life that as i continue to walk with him and to be "in Christ Jesus" i will grow more and more like him each day. Somehow i thank God for my forgetful nature. Normally i'll forget about the anger after a while. Time is sometimes your best friend eh.

And yeah, i've learnt much about forgiveness. Every time my sinful nature wants to take revenge, i'll remind myself this:

At the end of the day, the kingdom of God will lose out and the only person who'll benefit out of this is the devil.

this is the 1st step to letting go and forgiving.

Regards,

Jie Hui

Labels: Christian Living

The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

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Saturday, July 12, 2008