Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Forgiveness

“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.” Romans 4:7-8 (NLT)

An element of love often overlooked is forgiveness. It gets overlooked because it is perhaps the most difficult element of love to apply, perhaps because the one who did the offense to us, hurt us in a way that scarred us (whether intentional or unintentional). But when we think in the realm of love we grow to understand that selflessness is a characteristic of love that when embraced, should make it easier for us to understand how to forgive.

My favorite example of forgiveness is Jesus' example on the cross. After enduring hours of the harshest punishment anyone could ever imagine for a sin/offense He was unjustly accused. In what amounted to one of his final words He utters, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) Jesus had every right to unleash His fury upon us yet He chose love over just condemnation. We who have been afforded so much forgiveness should love, embracing completely all aspects of forgiveness ourselves... which... by the way includes forgetting.

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