Those who have been forgiven by God of all their sins—past, present, and future—should be the ones most readily to forgive—no matter the severity of the sin. I understand the urge to hold a grudge. We’re all sinners so that is what comes most naturally. But when we remember we’ve been completely forgiven, we should be able to completely forgive others.
“If you truly are sorry,” Brandt Jean said to his brother’s murderer, “I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you.”
Forgiving is incredibly difficult because holding a grudge is far too easy. It’s more natural for us to hold a grudge, to let our anger boil over and become bitter. But God has commanded us to forgive (Matt. 18:21-22).
We learn from this above story how forgiveness is, many times, supernatural. It took the Holy Spirit to let the words, “I forgive you,” leave those young man’s lips. But how? How did this man make it seem so easy to forgive his brother’s murderer?
He learned how to forgive. What are some ways we can learn to forgive?
Forgiven by God
Christians are able to forgive others—even of the most heinous sins—because we’ve been forgiven of our most egregious sins. It’s hard to withhold forgiveness when we’ve been forgiven. It’s difficult to spew our sinful wrath when God has withheld his righteous wrath on us.
We have been forgiven by God through the person and work of Jesus Christ—the gospel.
