Forgiveness Is Essential to Covenant Relationship

Forgiveness Is Essential to Covenant Relationship
by Dr. Gary Chapman

There will be failures in every marriage. Although our covenants with each other have been seriously made, we will sometimes fail to live up to those covenant commitments. A good marriage is not destroyed by some failures, but a good marriage will be destroyed if we are not willing to deal with our failures and renew our covenant.

The spirit of forgiveness is fully as important as the willingness to confront.

Some individuals will find it difficult to forgive. They are the kind of people who are hard on themselves and therefore may be hard on others. They hold high standards for themselves; they tend to be perfectionists. Because they require a lot of themselves, they also require much of others.

These people need to understand that forgiveness is a part of all covenant relationships.

They need also to understand that forgiveness is not a feeling but rather a promise.

Forgiveness is the promise that I will no longer hold that failure against you. You have confessed it, and I will lift the penalty and treat you as though you had not failed.

This is the forgiveness God gives us when we accept Christ's sacrifice for our sins. It is the forgiveness that we are able to give others because we have been forgiven.

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

- Ephesians 4:31-32

This article is taken from Dr. Chapman's book, Now You're Speaking My Language published by Broadman and Holman.