THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS
A man that was heavily addicted to drugs broke in an older man’s house looking for money. When he entered the bedroom he discovered that the older man was at home. In his haste, he attached the man and killed him. All he walked away with was few dollars. This drug addict was caught, tried, and convicted of murder. He was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
During the trial, the drug addict pleaded from the witness stand that the victim’s family would forgive him he was sorry for taking the man’s life. Among those family members that heard his plea was the victim’s only daughter, who was a Christian. Though she hurt inside, she did forgive this man. In fact, she surprised many people because she not only forgave this man, she befriended him. She would write letters to him in prison and would visit him occasionally.
Since she was able to forgive him, she made something good come from the senseless murder of her father. She taught the drug addict about Jesus, and eventually, he obeyed the gospel. Though she does not think he deserves to be released from prison, she is thankful she was able to forgive this man and was able to teach this man what he needed to do be freed from shackles of sin.
Being able to forgive someone for a wrong is challenging and rewarding at the same time. While it is much easier to hold grudge and stay mad at someone, it is much better for your mental and physical health to forgive. For example, notice what Katherine Piderman of MayoClinic.com says about the benefits of forgiving someone:
What are the benefits of forgiving someone?
Letting go of grudges and bitterness makes way for compassion, kindness and peace. Forgiveness can lead to:
I have read several other studies done by doctors and universities that show similar benefits of being able to forgive. These clinical benefits are enough to show the joy of forgiveness, but God’s Word gives us many more reasons we should find joy in forgiveness.
God’s Word offers us examples of forgiveness and the benefits that came from it. Our first example comes from Esau and Jacob. Those familiar with their story know that Esau and Jacob were twins, but since Esau was born first he would receive the birthright, which was a double portion of the inheritance. However, we learn that Jacob was a crafty young man, and he found a way to get his brother to sell his birthright:
Genesis 25:29 Now
Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob,
"Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary."
Therefore his name was called
Jacob’s second offence
against his brother was when their mother helped Jacob fool his father into
giving him the blessing instead of Esau. When Esau found out about this second
offense, he was furious:
Genesis 27:30 Now it
happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely
gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in
from his hunting. 31 He also
had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father,
"Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless
me." 32 And his father
Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" So he said, "I am your
son, your firstborn, Esau." 33
Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, "Who? Where is the one
who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you
came, and I have blessed him -- and indeed he shall be
blessed." 34 When Esau
heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter
cry, and said to his father, "Bless me -- me also, O my father!" 35 But he said, "Your brother
came with deceit and has taken away your blessing." 36 And Esau said, "Is
he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took
away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!" And he
said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" 37 Then Isaac answered and said to
Esau, "Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have
given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall
I do now for you, my son?" 38
And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless
me -- me also, O my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father
answered and said to him:"Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of
the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above.
40 By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your
brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall
break his yoke from your neck." 41 So
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and
Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand;
then I will kill my brother Jacob."
With Esau was breathing threats of murder, Jacob runs away for safety and gets a taste of his own trickery by his uncle Laban (Gen. 29). After 20 years of serving his uncle, the Lord tells Jacob to return home (Gen. 31). On his way home, he encounters his brother.
Genesis 33:1 Now
Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were
four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. 2 And he put the maidservants and
their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph
last. 3 Then he crossed over
before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to
his brother. 4 But Esau ran
to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they
wept.
After all those years,
Jacob was still afraid his brother would kill him. As he humbled himself before
his brother, he quickly finds out that his brother has forgiven him. We can
only imagine how much joy both brothers experienced at that moment as they had
reconciled their differences. They had to wait 20 long years to cry those tears
of joy, but their story shows us the power and joy of forgiveness.
Our next example comes
from Jacob’s life as well after he was renamed
Genesis 37:3 Now
Jacob’s favoritism and
Joseph’s dreams caused his brothers to hate him, and they could not stand to be
around him. As this familiar story continues, his brother plot against Joseph
and they are going to kill him (Gen. 37:18). However, through God’s
providential care some slave traders came by at that time, so they decided to
sell their brother into slavery instead (Gen. 37. 25-28). To make a long story
short, God blessed Joseph where ever he ended up, and eventually he was made
second in command over
Genesis 45:3 Then
Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still
live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in
his presence. 4 And Joseph
said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near.
Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into
In this story we can see the consequences of Joseph’s brother’s actions. To be treated that way by your brothers must have hurt deeply, but when Joseph could see how sorry they were and could see how God used this circumstance to save his people (Gen. 50:19-21), he was able to forgive them. Again, we see tears of joy being shed as these brothers reconciled their difference. By the power of forgiveness, many lives were spared from the seven years of famine.
The New Testament also provides us with examples of the joy of forgiveness. Of course, the greatest examples come from Jesus and His ability to forgive us of our sins. As a precursor to His dying on the cross to making it possible for all to have forgiveness of their sin, we see several examples of Him forgiving the sins of individuals. One example will suffice:
Luke 7:36 Then
one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's
house, and sat down to eat. 37
And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat
at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant
oil, 38 and stood at His feet
behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and
wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and
anointed them with the fragrant oil.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he
spoke to himself, saying, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who
and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a
sinner." 40 And Jesus
answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So
he said, "Teacher, say it." 41
"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred
denarii, and the other fifty. 42
"And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them
both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?" 43 Simon answered and said,
"I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him,
"You have rightly judged." 44
Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I
entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My
feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 "You gave Me no kiss, but
this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 "You did not anoint My
head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 "Therefore I say to you,
her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom
little is forgiven, the same loves little." 48 Then He said to her, "Your
sins are forgiven." 49
And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who
is this who even forgives sins?" 50
Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
Put yourself in this woman’s shoes. It should not be hard because we all know what it is like to be a sinner. She was disgusted with her sins and she humbled herself before Jesus and anointed His head with oil. She even used her hair to wipe her tears of sorry from Jesus’ feet. This woman longed to be forgiven and to change her ways, and Jesus gave her that forgiveness.
I think all of us can understand what joy and relief she must have felt when she knew she had been forgiven of her sins. All we have to do is think back to when we obeyed the gospel and remember the feeling we felt once we died with Christ in baptism, had our sins washed away by His blood, and were raised up out of the watery grave of baptism as a child of God. Knowing that our sins are forgiven and we now have the promise of eternal life cannot do anything else but bring great joy to our lives. Weather we are being forgiven or giving forgiveness it should cause us great joy.
It is a lot easier to receive forgiveness than to give it, but we must learn to forgive. It will help motivate us to be more forgiving when we realize that the wrong someone does to us can never compare to the multitude of sins that we have committed against God. We never deserved God’s forgiveness, but He offers it to us because He loves us.
Romans 5:6 For
when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man
will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the
reconciliation.
If God can forgive us our
sins, we should be willing to forgive those who repent of their sins. As Jesus
taught His disciples:
Luke 17:3
"Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him;
and if he repents, forgive him. 4
"And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day
returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
If we want to follow our master example, then we must train ourselves to forgive those who repent of their wrongs. When we do, it will make us feel better and allow us to begin the healing process from the injustice done to us.
We are also warned of what will happen of we do not give our forgiveness to those who repent:
Matthew 6:14
"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. 15 "But if
you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
The last thing we should want it to lose the ability to be forgiven by God, which is why it is imperative that we learn to forgive others and to find joy in doing so.
The Bible is full of examples of forgiveness and the benefits that come from it, but the examples I have given should be enough to convince you of the importance of giving and receiving forgiveness and the joy it brings. We should never allow ourselves not to forgive those who do us wrong when they repent because when we do, God will not forgive us. Also, to hold to grudge and never want to forgive will slowly eat away at your sanity and will continue you to make you miserable. So, let us learn to embrace the power of forgiveness and joy that it brings. I close with words of Paul:
Colossians 3:12 Therefore,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness,
humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13
bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint
against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put
on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which
also you were called in one body; and be thankful.