Forgiveness: What exactly is it?

"And if we forget this we shall go away imagining that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses." - CS Lewis

We hear alot of talk about forgiveness. Jesus Himself even said that if we didn't forgive others, then God would not forgive us. So we can see that forgiveness is a big deal to God, and He wants it to be a big deal to us. This leads me to the main point of this blog: what exactly is forgiveness?

Forgiving and Excusing

I think that CS Lewis is spot on with this one. He begins by pointing out a mistake we often make regarding forgiveness. Namely, that we often confuse forgiving with excusing. To this some may say, "Well, is there really a difference?" The answer is yes, there is a very big difference. When we excuse something we are essentially dismissing it. "Well, you hit your wife because you were angry, so its not completely your fault..." That is excusing, something that most of us are very familiar with. Forgiveness on the other hand looks more like, "You were very mean to your wife, regardless of circumstance you still did what you did, but I forgive you. I will make every effort to erase it from my heart and mind, and I will love you as though it never happened." That is forgiveness.


God and Us

Often times when we enter our prayer closet and ask God to forgive us, what we are really asking Him to do is to accept our excuses. We look for every factor, every detail, and every circumstance that somehow makes our sins less our fault. To be fair, sometimes there are factors that may lessen the blame. Surely we are more sympathetic to someone who says a hurtful thing after being hurt than to someone who says hurtful things just to say them. Regardless, there is still that bit that is our fault, and even if it is only one percent it must still be forgiven. When we go before God we must be humble. We must mean it when we ask God to "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." We must tell God what we have done, and we must ask Him to forgive us. This is a much harder task than simply rattling off excuses, and I believe that if we get in the habit of consistantly asking for forgiveness that we will gradually see a decrease in our sins.

My Brother and I

Not only must we learn to ask forgiveness from God, we must learn to give it to our fellow man. CS Lewis points out that we are so quick to give our excuses to God, yet we are reluctant to accept them from others (even though they may very well be the same ones that we have offered to God a hundred times). When our brother comes to us, even seven times seventy, we must forgive them. I understand that this is not always easy, and so does God. I believe that if we desire to forgive others, and that if we make every effort to do so, that God will provide us with every help to ensure that forgiveness is given. It is not an easy task, but I believe that forgiveness is an essential part of sanctification.

The Hard Stuff

Some of you may say that there are some things that you cannot seem to forgive, even if you want to. I would tell you to take it before God. He loves you, and He will teach you how to forgive.

In Closing

Its easy to read a blog like this, but to actually apply it is a very difficult task. I pray that we will lean on God for strength, and that we will remember how God has forgiven us. I also pray that we will take very seriously the part of the Lord's prayer that says "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." God bless and Jesus loves you!!

-Jon