Psalm 41 was written by King David. He wrote, “O Lord, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.” David understood that mercy, healing and forgiveness all have the same root. They all spring up out of love for the other. Yet mercy cannot be fully exercised if there is unforgiveness, and healing cannot be acted on without mercy first. So forgiveness has its place as the first expression of love, most especially for those whom we do not naturally love. It is, if you will, the least expression of God’s love.
For this reason it is God’s least expectation of His people. They should – as His people – manifest this aspect of His character as a bare minimum. It may be a bit much for any parent to expect their children to exhibit the more subtle aspects of adult character, but it is not too much to expect them to at least pick up their most common behaviour. And if our creator God has ever demonstrated anything to us as His children, it is forgiveness.
He demonstrated it in approaching Adam and Eve in the garden, calling out to them after they had willfully and deliberately sinned against Him. He demonstrated it in calling to Noah, even though Noah’s whole people group had descended into thinking “only evil all the time”. He demonstrated it to Terah’s generation, scattering them and blessing them with various languages instead of destroying them at Babel.
He demonstrated it to Abram, forgiving him for fathering Ishmael when he was promised a son through Sarah. He demonstrated it to Isaac, who lied to the people of Gerar. He demonstrated it to Jacob, who took advantage of his brother and lied to his father.
He demonstrated it to Moses, who killed the Egyptian. He demonstrated it to Aaron, who made the golden calf. He demonstrated it to the Israelites, who acted shamefully at Mount Sinai. He demonstrated it to Israel as a nation, who fell into idolatry over and over during the time of the Judges. He demonstrated it to Saul, who He let live and reign, even though he was double-minded. He demonstrated it to David, who committed adultery and first degree murder.
He demonstrated it to Peter, who denied Him three times over, and He demonstrated it to Paul, who severely persecuted God’s people.
In fact, the whole of the Scripture is a story of God forgiving us, of God delaying judgment in hope of our repentance, of God giving sinful mankind days, months, years and even decades to turn from sin. It is the story of God giving entire people groups generation upon generation to stop their idolatry and to turn to Him as God only. The pages of the Bible drip with forgiveness, compassion, mercy and love.
So when Jesus tells us to pray, “Forgive us our debts,” it is not surprising to hear Him add the clause, “as we also have forgiven our debtors.” In expressing an assumed forgiveness of our fellow sinners in His template for prayer, Jesus clearly communicates the idea; Forgiveness is the litmus test. If we are truly God’s, we must – as a bare minimum – truly forgive just as God forgave us. In fact, we are only forgiven as we have forgiven others because God expects His own to act as He does.
We become like the people we think about the most. If you dwell upon past hurts, you become just like those who hurt you. Hurt people hurt people.
Anonymous
APPLICATION: Intentionality
Who have you forgiven? Who do you need to forgive?