Returning good for evil is not a complicated concept; it’s very simple. Yet it is rare. It’s one of the most difficult tasks we ever undertake in life. Let’s be honest. Forgiving an offense is much easier when the guilty person is contrite and has sincerely apologized. But when the offender takes delight in our suffering or personally benefits from our downfall, choosing to treat him or her kindly defies everything we know about justice and fair play.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Forgiveness
Free-Flowing Grace
In a piece titled “Forgiveness Is a Condition for Our Own Freedom,” Neil Anderson wrote the following: Forgiveness is not forgetting. People who try to forget find that they cannot. God says He will “remember no more” our sins (Hebrews 10:17), but God, being omniscient, cannot forget. “Remember no more” means that God will never use the past against us (Psalm 103:12).
Read MoreEmbrace Mercy
Yesterday we discovered that forgiving someone begins with your decision to surrender all rights to see justice done for the harm you suffered. It’s not an easy decision. Letting someone off your moral hook takes great wisdom, courage, and faith. You aren’t simply letting the matter drop; you are handing this person and your suffering over to God, trusting Him to do what is right.
Read MoreSurrender Your Rights
If we accept that resentment is poisonous to the soul and that God demands we dispose of it, the next question is obvious: How? How can we rid ourselves of this toxic attitude? Here’s where God’s Word comes to our rescue. First, we must do something within ourselves that is painful. We must surrender our right to pursue our own justice. This is the first of two steps in forgiving someone.
Read MorePoison to the Soul
I think Sir Francis Bacon had the right idea when he wrote, “Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man’s nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. . . . Certainly, in taking revenge a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing over it, he is superior, for it is a prince’s part to pardon.” If you have spent much time around someone who is eaten up with the desire for revenge . . .
Read MoreGod’s Deliverance
The final verse of Psalm 54 describes a sudden reversal. The first verses describe a dire situation, prompting David to plead for God’s help. By verse 7, his despondency has turned to triumph. His declaration, “He has delivered me from all trouble,” is past tense. Hebrew literature often uses the perfect tense to declare a future event “as good as done.”
Read MoreRest in God’s Faithfulness
As David’s lament (Psalm 54) over the grind of difficult people draws to a close, he turns from bitter resentment to find rest in God’s faithfulness. David has named his enemies and acknowledged their sins, and he has surrendered his right to justice, placing them in God’s hands. As a result, David finds peace.
Read MoreLeave Vengeance to God
David could have written a whole book of poems lamenting the host of enemies surrounding him. Enemies in Saul’s court. Enemies among the priests. Enemies in the surrounding territories. Enemies everywhere! But in Psalm 54, he devotes only three lines (54:1–3) to naming his problem people. He, instead, quickly turned his mind’s eye to focus on his divine advocate.
Read MoreSin Distorts the Truth
As David’s celebration song about God’s forgiveness continues, he recognizes that confession is costly. He also acknowledges the fact that we have a window of opportunity that may, one day, close. Consequently, he prays for God’s future provision. Provision for Future Needs: Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
Read MoreThe Bitter Price of Secret Sin
David’s celebration of God’s forgiveness takes a dark turn as he recalls his anguished past. He remembers—perhaps accompanied by a gloomy minor key—the days of misery he spent in the isolation of secret sin. Reflection on Past Sins: When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away. Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
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