In light of recent events, I’m brought again to my knees, questioning my own faith walk when it comes to the forgiveness of others. Surely we as believers have been given the spiritual stomach to accept certain wrongdoings but to what degree? How far will we go to forgive someone? Before we look into scripture, as you read this post I want you to allow God’s spirit to have precedence over you, surrendering every thought captive to His will. We begin in the Old Testament with the first recorded account of murder.  

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Genesis 4:6-8

It’s one thing for God to forgive the sin, its another thing for the sinner to forgive the sin acted upon them. Sin has no levels, there are no degrees or hierarchy. A white lie has just the same dosage which separates you from God as someone who robs, steals or kills. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” (Rom.3:23). But lets look at the apostle Paul who wrote 13 of the New Testament books. He considered himself a chief of sinners, persecuted the early believers, threw Christians into jail, he breathed out murders and threats and yet God still used him to grow His church.

We are a people, depraved in nature, imperfect in character, and stubborn in spirit. Thou shall not kill, written on the tablets, along with 9 other commands is just the tip of the iceberg in our pursuit of Godliness. Love is the answer that Jesus gives when someone wrongs us. “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.“ (Rom 13:9). Not the easiest command to follow but follow we must. We will share heaven with all sorts of saints and sinners alike. This is not an admission to forgive for the sake of paradise but an understanding that our sovereign God is all knowing, all powerful and all forgiving.

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

C.S Lewis

Below is a good resource on how to forgive when forgiving seems difficult to do so. I pray that we all can grasp a glimpse of God’s grace and enact Love in every part of our daily lives.