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Honey From The Rock Psalm 81:16 |
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AS CHRIST FORGAVE This entry was posted on 09-05-2008 and is filed under uncategorized. "Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do" (Col. 3:13b NKJV).
Here we find three words which could, if put into practice, change the very world in which we live. "As Christ forgave." Or as Charles Williams translates this verse: "Just as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so must you also do." There is no getting around it. We have been forgiven. We must be a forgiving people. William Barclay said, "Only the forgiving can be forgiven." Upon hearing this the injured flesh immediately goes into action. "But I can't forgive. Don't you realize what he/she/they did to me?" But the written record still says, "Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." Even as. That's the key. Just like Christ forgave His enemies, we must forgive those who have trespassed against us. Our dying Lord prayed, "Father, forgive them" and we must, from the heart, pray that same prayer. Are we a higher tribunal than God? One of the meanings of forgive is "to let loose from" or "to release" (W. E. Vine). It is cleansing and theologically therapeutic to let loose from or to release. You have now done your part. Whether that person ever accepts that act of forgiveness (or ever asks for and receives God's forgiveness) is entirely up to him/her/them. But bless your heart, you have done your part. You have "let loose from" bitterness and hurt; you have released them from your resentment and hatred. Yes, it is hard to forgive. It must have been for Jesus. But it is not impossible to do so. The Forgiven can, with God's help, become The Forgiving. Hymn: "A holy, harmless life He led; I want to be like Jesus. The Father's will, His drink and bread; I want to be like Jesus. And when at last He comes to die, 'Forgive them, Father,' hear Him cry For those who taunt and crucify. I want to be like Jesus" (Thomas O. Chisholm) |
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