Forgive, Regardless of Your Feelings
By Kevin Pauley
"Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he
repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in
a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,'
you must forgive him." - Luke 17:3-4 HCSB
If there was ever a man who should rightfully have been bitter,
it was Joseph. He had been scorned by his brothers, manhandled,
thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, lied about, falsely
imprisoned and forgotten. Yet, Joseph found it within himself to
forgive his brothers and treat them kindly.
Jesus commanded us to forgive others. Forgiveness is a command
to be obeyed, not a suggestion to be considered. It is to be
granted even when it is not necessarily felt. Our feelings are
not a necessary ingredient of obedience.
Many try to excuse themselves from the mitzvah of forgiveness,
but Jesus told us that we are to forgive our brother if he asks
for it, even seven times in a day! When our brother is caught in
wrong-doing, those of us who are spiritual should gently rebuke
him and pursue whatever path is required to restore him to his
former righteous state.
Notice that Jesus stressed the results rather than the cause. If
an offending Christian says he is repentant, our Master plainly
expects the offended brother to forgive him.
We don't have to wait for evidence of repentance in order to
determine whether or not one's repentance is real. If we are to
forgive seven times in a day, there is no way for us to verify
the fruit of the other's repentance in that space of time. In
fact, all the evidence would seem to point in the opposite
direction. Yet, Jesus demanded that we forgive upon verbal
testimony alone.
The disciples replied, "Lord, give us more faith!" At first,
their request sounds quite reasonable to us maybe even pious,
but the Lord was unsympathetic. He responded that if they even
had as much faith as the grain of a mustard seed, they would be
able to do miraculous things.
He then gave them a practical example. A servant was working out
in the field all day. Upon returning at the end of the day,
tired and hungry, he was told to clean up, cook some food and
serve his master. He did so, in spite of his natural hunger, and
was not thanked. Why? Because he did not deserve thanks for
merely doing his duty.
Thus, it is clear that forgiveness is a "duty." It is commanded.
It is no more hypocritical to obey the Lord in granting
forgiveness against one's feelings than for the slave to prepare
and serve the meal against his feelings. Nor is it meritorious
to do one's duty. "In the same way, when you have done all that
you were commanded, you should say, 'We are good-for-nothing
slaves; we've only done our duty.'"
Written by Pastor Kevin Pauley
Kevin Pauley is a minister and a freelance writer living in
Illinois with his wife and five children.
http://www.pastorpauley.com
