THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS
For the past two months in this newsletter, I have emphasized the following three points regarding dealing with others, especially with those who may disagree with you or even oppose you:
I want to focus on the third of these this month: the necessity, the inevitability, and the power of forgiveness. This is a fundamental principle of the plan of redemption, and can especially be seen as a major component of the New Testament. However, the forgiveness I want to point out this month is not so much God’s forgiveness toward us as it is our forgiveness toward others. It is undeniable that God has provided the ultimate example of forgiveness by releasing us from the penalty of our sins. However, in order for us to experience the elusive and ethereal goal of peace on earth, that same principle must be at work between individuals, family members, people groups, and nations.
When the subject of forgiveness is mentioned, people often look for objections involving why it is not possible, practical, or even advisable. I want to help you overcome these objections by pointing out several things that forgiveness is not. My hope is that a thorough discussion of the subject will help you have a more complete understanding of what God requires of us when He tells us to forgive. In addition, I hope to explain some of these objections to help people avoid insisting that forgiveness is not possible in their case because of all kinds of special circumstances that only apply to them.
Forgiveness does not mean that you must discount threats against your well-being, regardless of their motivation or their seriousness. One of the mistakes well-meaning people often make is disregarding the rhetoric of their adversaries. When someone says they hate you, they may just be making an unfortunate comment in the heat of the moment. On the other hand, they may be absolutely serious. I advise you to err on the side of caution in these cases.
I remember one occasion that illustrates this with startling clarity. Years ago, law enforcement officers suddenly came to my family and me and whisked us off to an undisclosed location due to credible threats that had been made against us without our knowledge. It was frightening to think that people can and do harbor such intense animus toward anyone, especially toward those who present neither harm nor potential threat to them.
This points out another fact: you are not required to seek fellowship with those who say they hate you. You do have to forgive them (see Matthew 5:44). You do not have to attempt to include yourself in their circle of influence or try to become their best friend. Doing so would probably result in nothing more than provoking them to even more serious threats and more outrageous ridicule and slander, while also exposing yourself to a higher level of harm.
When dispatching His disciples into a hostile world, Jesus said in Matthew 10:16-17: “Look, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” He warned them that they would inevitably encounter opposition, but He also encouraged them to avoid unnecessary provocation. You will have enough adversaries as you go about God’s business without attempting to seek them out.
Here is another thing that forgiveness is not: it is not a feeling. This is a misunderstanding that the devil uses to convince many of God’s people that they have not obeyed His instructions to forgive. Since they don’t have a feeling of forgiveness (whatever that is supposed to feel like), they don’t think they have been successful in forgiving someone.
Here is the truth: forgiveness is not a feeling that you feel. It is a decision that you make. This is an important concept, and it cannot be emphasized enough. As believers, we walk by faith and not by sight. We cannot wait for our feelings to catch up before we act in faith. We obey first, and let the feelings follow—if indeed they follow at all, which is not certain, and may never happen. Whether or not we feel anything, we can forgive as a matter of choice. It is a choice we will have to make repeatedly as we navigate the perils of a fallen world.
This brings up another principle regarding forgiveness: forgiveness does not make what is wrong or what has been done wrong right. When you forgive someone who has hurt you, abused you, lied to you or about you, stolen from you, or otherwise harmed you, it does not automatically nullify their transgression. It does not magically transform what is bad into something good.
Here is another thought that goes along with the previous one: forgiveness does not mean that a transgressor simply “gets away with it,” whatever it is. It is true that forgiveness carries with it the idea of release. When you forgive someone for what they did against you, it releases them from any penalty that you might try to extract from them. It does not release them from penalty, consequences, or the results of crossing a legal boundary or from the always righteous scales of eternal justice.
Look at it this way: if someone breaks into your house and robs you, and you forgive them, your forgiveness does not cancel the consequences of them breaking the laws of the jurisdiction in which you reside. They are still subject to the penalty of being a lawbreaker. The penalty is not decided by you. The matter is out of your hands.
In the same way, someone who breaks God’s law is subject to the jurisdiction of the ultimate righteous Judge. Even though your forgiving them releases them from the possibility of your potential retribution, God will do what is right in every case. His justice is always according to righteousness. While it may seem that evildoers suffer no consequences for their actions and decisions, we are not the final arbiter of such matters. Our responsibility is to forgive those who have wronged us and allow God to judge. The only thing that will release someone who has done wrong from God’s eternal justice is the same thing that released you—repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
At all times, we must remember that the mercy of God was extended to us over and over again when we did not deserve it. Those who have wronged us need the same mercy. Our forgiveness may be the catalyst that enables them to receive that mercy instead of rejecting it. Forgiveness may also open the door to reconciliation between you and those who hate you and have done evil toward you.
Here is another point I need to share: forgiveness not only releases the one who wronged you from your potential wrath and retribution, but it also releases you from bitterness and resentment. This is an important aspect of forgiveness, and one that is often overlooked. When forgiveness is the subject, the focus is almost always on the one who did the wrong, and the magnitude of the wrong they did. That is only one part of the equation. Unforgiveness is sin. It is just as wrong as whatever the perpetrator did to you. Do not allow what someone else did to you, regardless of how monstrously horrible it was, to determine the trajectory of your life by bottling you up in a prison of bitterness. Allow yourself the liberty to be the person God created you to be without the stigma of unforgiveness and the resentment that accompanies it to weigh you down and keep you from fulfilling your God-given purposes.
Forgiveness is not just a passive and passionless part of the lives of poor, weak-willed Christians who can do nothing to defend themselves. It is a powerful weapon of the love of God, wielded with great effect by believers who follow God’s instruction and example to forgive.
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer
- Love them by telling them the truth (the gospel)
- Pray for them, that they would see the truth and receive it
- Forgive them
I want to focus on the third of these this month: the necessity, the inevitability, and the power of forgiveness. This is a fundamental principle of the plan of redemption, and can especially be seen as a major component of the New Testament. However, the forgiveness I want to point out this month is not so much God’s forgiveness toward us as it is our forgiveness toward others. It is undeniable that God has provided the ultimate example of forgiveness by releasing us from the penalty of our sins. However, in order for us to experience the elusive and ethereal goal of peace on earth, that same principle must be at work between individuals, family members, people groups, and nations.
When the subject of forgiveness is mentioned, people often look for objections involving why it is not possible, practical, or even advisable. I want to help you overcome these objections by pointing out several things that forgiveness is not. My hope is that a thorough discussion of the subject will help you have a more complete understanding of what God requires of us when He tells us to forgive. In addition, I hope to explain some of these objections to help people avoid insisting that forgiveness is not possible in their case because of all kinds of special circumstances that only apply to them.
Forgiveness does not mean that you must discount threats against your well-being, regardless of their motivation or their seriousness. One of the mistakes well-meaning people often make is disregarding the rhetoric of their adversaries. When someone says they hate you, they may just be making an unfortunate comment in the heat of the moment. On the other hand, they may be absolutely serious. I advise you to err on the side of caution in these cases.
I remember one occasion that illustrates this with startling clarity. Years ago, law enforcement officers suddenly came to my family and me and whisked us off to an undisclosed location due to credible threats that had been made against us without our knowledge. It was frightening to think that people can and do harbor such intense animus toward anyone, especially toward those who present neither harm nor potential threat to them.
This points out another fact: you are not required to seek fellowship with those who say they hate you. You do have to forgive them (see Matthew 5:44). You do not have to attempt to include yourself in their circle of influence or try to become their best friend. Doing so would probably result in nothing more than provoking them to even more serious threats and more outrageous ridicule and slander, while also exposing yourself to a higher level of harm.
When dispatching His disciples into a hostile world, Jesus said in Matthew 10:16-17: “Look, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” He warned them that they would inevitably encounter opposition, but He also encouraged them to avoid unnecessary provocation. You will have enough adversaries as you go about God’s business without attempting to seek them out.
Here is another thing that forgiveness is not: it is not a feeling. This is a misunderstanding that the devil uses to convince many of God’s people that they have not obeyed His instructions to forgive. Since they don’t have a feeling of forgiveness (whatever that is supposed to feel like), they don’t think they have been successful in forgiving someone.
Here is the truth: forgiveness is not a feeling that you feel. It is a decision that you make. This is an important concept, and it cannot be emphasized enough. As believers, we walk by faith and not by sight. We cannot wait for our feelings to catch up before we act in faith. We obey first, and let the feelings follow—if indeed they follow at all, which is not certain, and may never happen. Whether or not we feel anything, we can forgive as a matter of choice. It is a choice we will have to make repeatedly as we navigate the perils of a fallen world.
This brings up another principle regarding forgiveness: forgiveness does not make what is wrong or what has been done wrong right. When you forgive someone who has hurt you, abused you, lied to you or about you, stolen from you, or otherwise harmed you, it does not automatically nullify their transgression. It does not magically transform what is bad into something good.
Here is another thought that goes along with the previous one: forgiveness does not mean that a transgressor simply “gets away with it,” whatever it is. It is true that forgiveness carries with it the idea of release. When you forgive someone for what they did against you, it releases them from any penalty that you might try to extract from them. It does not release them from penalty, consequences, or the results of crossing a legal boundary or from the always righteous scales of eternal justice.
Look at it this way: if someone breaks into your house and robs you, and you forgive them, your forgiveness does not cancel the consequences of them breaking the laws of the jurisdiction in which you reside. They are still subject to the penalty of being a lawbreaker. The penalty is not decided by you. The matter is out of your hands.
In the same way, someone who breaks God’s law is subject to the jurisdiction of the ultimate righteous Judge. Even though your forgiving them releases them from the possibility of your potential retribution, God will do what is right in every case. His justice is always according to righteousness. While it may seem that evildoers suffer no consequences for their actions and decisions, we are not the final arbiter of such matters. Our responsibility is to forgive those who have wronged us and allow God to judge. The only thing that will release someone who has done wrong from God’s eternal justice is the same thing that released you—repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
At all times, we must remember that the mercy of God was extended to us over and over again when we did not deserve it. Those who have wronged us need the same mercy. Our forgiveness may be the catalyst that enables them to receive that mercy instead of rejecting it. Forgiveness may also open the door to reconciliation between you and those who hate you and have done evil toward you.
Here is another point I need to share: forgiveness not only releases the one who wronged you from your potential wrath and retribution, but it also releases you from bitterness and resentment. This is an important aspect of forgiveness, and one that is often overlooked. When forgiveness is the subject, the focus is almost always on the one who did the wrong, and the magnitude of the wrong they did. That is only one part of the equation. Unforgiveness is sin. It is just as wrong as whatever the perpetrator did to you. Do not allow what someone else did to you, regardless of how monstrously horrible it was, to determine the trajectory of your life by bottling you up in a prison of bitterness. Allow yourself the liberty to be the person God created you to be without the stigma of unforgiveness and the resentment that accompanies it to weigh you down and keep you from fulfilling your God-given purposes.
Forgiveness is not just a passive and passionless part of the lives of poor, weak-willed Christians who can do nothing to defend themselves. It is a powerful weapon of the love of God, wielded with great effect by believers who follow God’s instruction and example to forgive.
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer