![\"Man](\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20170523133735\/Id-Rather-Strangle-You-e1302705929398.jpg\" "\\"Id-Rather-Strangle-You\\"")
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You’re offended. You’re humiliated. You’re hurt. Maybe it all went down last week, maybe last month…maybe last year.\u00a0 Either way, it feels like it was just moments ago and your nerves and emotions are still raw.\u00a0 And speaking of ‘nerve’…the person who sinned against you just came up…acting all broken and contrite…and asked you to forgive them.\u00a0 “You’ve got to be kidding!\u00a0 After all they did?” You didn’t say it out loud, but your heart and mind screamed, “I’D RATHER STRANGLE YOU THAN FORGIVE YOU!”<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Was that description a little too close to home? It’s possible that you’ve tried to ask someone’s forgiveness at some point and been denied in one way, shape or form.\u00a0 It’s also possible that at some point you’ve been on the “<\/em>screaming” <\/em>end of that scenario.\u00a0 If that’s true, then this post is for you. Let’s look at what it means to biblically forgive someone as well as the implications of that forgiveness.<\/p>\n <\/strong>Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”\u00a0 For such a small verse, there are some large expectations and <\/em>implications.\u00a0 Not only are we to forgive each other, but we are to forgive each other in the same way that GOD…through Christ…<\/em>forgave us.\u00a0 To better learn how to forgive others, I believe it is imperative that we become fully aware of how God forgave (and continues to forgive) us.<\/p>\n <\/strong>Read Matthew 18:21-35!\u00a0 It is powerful in helping us understand God’s economy of forgiveness.<\/p>\n Ok, now that you’ve read it, here are some lessons we really <\/em>need to let sink in. As we interpret this passage, realize that the king is God, we are the slave who owes the king, and those who sin against us are represented by the slave that owes us.<\/p>\n God’s holiness…our filthiness.\u00a0 God’s complete and thorough forgiveness of our sin…turning our filthiness into purity before God.\u00a0 How we value our forgiveness will directly impact the way we forgive others.\u00a0 I almost titled this post “I’m too holy to forgive you.”\u00a0 We would never say that out loud, yet that’s exactly what we’re saying when we refuse to forgive someone.<\/p>\n <\/strong>True forgiveness means you’ll continue to forgive and restore the relationship as often as necessary (Matt 18:21-22).\u00a0 Forgiveness is a choice.\u00a0 It doesn’t mean that the hurt, pain or humiliation will go away.\u00a0 It simply means that you’ve come to understand that your sin before a holy God is far greater than anyone’s sin against you could ever be.\u00a0 The king in the parable didn’t give an extension to pay the debt.\u00a0 He completely wiped the debt clean.\u00a0 This is an example to us that when we grant forgiveness, the record is clear and we will choose to not<\/em> continue to bring up that sin (debt) as if it were still owed in some way.<\/p>\n The next time you’re tempted to grab someone by the throat and demand that they experience the pain that they’ve caused you, remember the excruciating pain, suffering, and death that Christ underwent in order to clear your debt. Will you value that payment, or will you throw it right back in God’s face?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does it look like to biblically forgive someone? What are the implications of that forgiveness? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[165],"yoast_head":"\nForgive Like God<\/h2>\n
How Does God Forgive?<\/h2>\n
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Practical Implications of Forgiving<\/h2>\n