Jesus said, “For
if you forgive people their wrongdoings, then your heavenly Father will forgive
you [your wrongdoings]...”
—
Matthew 6:14 (USC)
Justice is the Lord’s business
and nobody else’s, especially with regard to personal justice. No one can
avenge a wrong done against us; no one but the Lord.
But we place
ourselves in the position of influence over ourselves when we submit before God
and forgive those who have wronged us no matter what it was.
When I think of the
worst things to forgive, I think of abuses incurred, so horrible as to hardly
want to imagine them. Humanity – the evil of it – can be a despicable lot! And
to retrieve such memories may even cause re-traumatisation! There is peace in
only one outcome; taking the issue to God and partaking of the Lord’s love to anesthetise and heal.
The way we do that
is by going to God – surrendered and submitted – because God alone is
trustworthy and faithful and would never harm us – and seeking his help to
forgive them.
As we surrender, we
account for our sin; to withhold forgiveness.
As we submit, we
open the doorway of the Spirit into our own hearts and lives.
As we trust him
alone who is entirely trustworthy and faithful we are granted the peace of
surrender and submission – and what precious states of being these are!
To surrender our
will and to submit to God – who can never let us down – we find ourselves
strangely situated. For the first time, perhaps ever, we are at peace. It is a
bizarre feeling. This peace is an openness of unencumbered delight. It is not
bliss, nor is it numbness, nor is it inebriation. It is the fullness of the
moment. It is the seconds where the blinkers are off and all distractions
wither into nothingness. This is the place where God anoints us with his
healing. One moment of this is great enough to last all eternity!
And once we have
experienced this salubrious spaciousness of unadorned serenity we know there is
no point in moving back: the issue, the person, the group... all is forgiven.
We remain surrendered and submitted. We have come to be convinced. No further
correspondence is entered into, for it would all be superfluity.
When we have
forgiven, having consumed that grace – for only through God’s agency can we
forgive – we become benefactors of
that very same grace regarding our sin.
Our being forgiven
begins with our forgiving; when we have forgiven, we are forgiven.
We cannot enjoy the
grace that is ours until we have enjoyed giving them their grace.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. What forgiveness challenges are
still before you?
2. If you have experienced something
of the experience of God gifting you with surrender and submission –
unencumbered trust – what must be done to ‘replicate’ that experience? In other
words, what must we bring to God so we may employ his power for peace?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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