Forgiveness to the "Nth" Degree

Forgiveness. Such an interesting subject. We talk about God’s unlimited resources to forgive our worst wrongs, provided we simply and earnestly seek it. Is it really so easy? Well yes... and no.

It is easy in the sense that God’s grace and love for us is just begging to be received. All we must do is confess our wrongs and receive! There is no scorecard, no limit to this. But...

...it does require an attitude in our hearts that may not be so easy. We are called to forgive others as a result; in fact, scripture tells us something that might not sit too well with us: we must forgive in order to be forgiven. A couple years back, I heard a sermon using text from Matthew 18. Jesus tells an inquiring person that we are to forgive “seventy times seven times” (basically, there is no end to how much we are to forgive). At the end of chapter 18, Jesus then warns that if we treat others without mercy and forgiveness (while expecting God’s forgiveness in return), we deserve punishment.

My old pal C.S. Lewis puts it this way, while discussing a part of the Lord’s Prayer that we know so well: We believe that God forgives our sins; but also that He will not do so unless we forgive other people their sins against us... He doesn’t say that we are to forgive other people’s sins provided they are not too frightful, or provided there are extenuating circumstances, or anything of that sort. We are to forgive them all, however spiteful, however mean, however often they are repeated. If we don’t, we shall be forgiven none of our own.” –from “On Forgiveness” (The Weight of Glory)

I have to ask myself, “Self, am I expecting God’s forgiveness, but neglecting to forgive others?” It is a good question to ask daily. Seek God’s help in forgiving. We may never be “best friends” with those who wrong us (we don’t have to be!), but we must seek to truly forgive others. We certainly don’t deserve God’s forgiveness, but he offers it anyway.