As believers many of us may struggle with the ability to forgive those who deeply hurt us in silence. Many caring kind-hearted individuals trying to pattern our lives after Christ, can come to feel as though we are trapped in an endless cycle of total insanity, forgiving those who wrong us over and over and over again. As followers of the Holy Hebrew Bible, are we supposed to be martyrs? Are we supposed to expose ourselves to constant criticism, belittlement, disrespect and emotional violence? Are we supposed forgive and forget, leaving ourselves open to the wicked, totally unprotected? One important component of forgiveness involves the release from bondage and the penalty associated with it. When we ask for forgiveness from our Heavenly Father it is because we are acknowledging the mistake that we have made, requesting mercy and pleading for release from the penalty of what we have done. Knowing we can be freed from the bondage of guilt, shame and regret because of the sacrifice of Christ, our Saviour and Messiah. If someone is continuously hurting another person one can assume that they are oblivious to the emotional mayhem and devastation that their thoughtless actions leave behind. So how can we release them from the bondage of what they have done to us, when they don’t even feel bad about it? We constantly hear verses such as Matthew 6:14-15 parroted on pulpits, “if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” and Luke 6:27, “… love your enemies, do good to those who hate you”. But our holy book counsels the Israelites about many other things, particularly involving the wicked. The prophet Jeremiah even said, “take care of being imposed upon, since “they” meaning the wicked, are given to lying and deceit”. He also said that we are not to easily believe what is said by certain individuals and we must keep ourselves from those who have evil communications because “evil communications corrupt good manners”. How can we follow these spiritual principles if we are just to give everyone a clean slate, forgetting their wickedness over and over and over again. As children of the Kingdom, we need to follow the whole Hebrew Bible, not just some of it. Yes! Of course we forgive because we have been admonished to do so by the Most High Creator God but, one thing our book doesn’t say is that we have be doormats, and that we must forget. I encourage you to give it a read.
Comentarios