What does it means to forgive?

FORGIVE, FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN

Corrie Ten Boom, having survived years in Nazi concentration camps, gave this illustration.  She would go to the podium carrying a suitcase which she opened and as she talked, she proceeded to remove the large and heavy items from the suitcase.  She talked about how God had helped her through the dark times and how she had experienced many miracles through faith in Ravensbruck. She even said how she was able to forgive the guards and those who tortured them.  At last, with the suitcase empty, she said that she had put the burden of the past aside and had forgiven them. 

Then, still speaking to the audience, she began to put the items back into the suitcase and closed the lid and started to leave the podium.  That is what we do with those we say we have forgiven, she explained.  We think we have given our hurts over to God and we say that we forgive them, but then we put the offenses back into the suitcase and pick it up again.  Real forgiveness happens when we can walk away with the empty suitcase.

I don't know what you carry in your suitcase.  Your feelings of hurt or hatred may well be deserved, and many may say you are justified to feel anger and resentment, but this you must know - the burdens of the past make a heavy load to carry. 

Forgive is an action verb   To forgive someone is a letting go of a debt, real or perceived.  In the Lord's Prayer we use the word 'trespass' because it portrays an infraction that cannot be resolved by writing a check.  We pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we for those who trespass against us." God forgives when we forgive.  It isn't easy to forgive and to let the wounds we have experienced heal.  The important thing is to be willing to forgive, even if we forgive simply in obedience to God's command.

Forgiven is a state.  When we accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers us He says, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."  Hebrews 10:17.  What a blessed state to be in - to be forgiven.  What a treasured gift you give someone when you give them your forgiveness.

Forgotten.  What does God mean when He says,"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."  Hebrews 8:12   What does it mean when we say, "Forgive and forget?"  It does not mean that we suddenly develop amnesia, but rather that we forget the sting of the trespass, that our blood no longer boils at the thought and we are able to view the past through the eyes of Jesus Christ and grant them the same forgiveness that Christ offers us. 

Saying, "I'll forgive but I won't forget" is just another way
of saying, "I do not forgive you."

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.  Psalms 103:8-12

Praying for the power to forgive,

Pastor Bob and Marion Rieth