The first lesson every Christian learns, and we have to learn it before we can even be a Christian, is that I am evil at the core, and it is my fault. I am not only wicked but helpless to change in any significant way. I can’t fix the things I have broken. I can’t undo the things I have done. I can’t “unoffend” God or anyone else I have offended or hurt. At our best, we cover it up with culturally acceptable behaviors, but the evil is always there, the guilt is genuine, and deep down, we all know it. Until we accept this fact, we are not ready for the gospel.

The gospel is good news, but only if you first accept the bad news. For all those who live in denial, the gospel is an irritating reminder of the inner evil they are desperately trying not to think about. The gospel is about justice and mercy, and justice is about balance. You steal 10 dollars, and you pay back 10 dollars plus something for the pain you caused. Justice is not vengeance, and it is not equality. Justice is everyone getting exactly what they deserve. The guilty never cry out for justice. They cry out for mercy. We are all guilty. We need mercy. But if we all get mercy, what happens to justice? Simply saying that evil does not matter is evil. Can a just God do that?

How can a just God simply declare that evil does not matter? The answer is, of course, He can’t. But here’s the problem: God is both just and merciful, a seemingly hopeless contradiction. Justice demands payment, but those in need of mercy are broke. We can’t pay our debt because everything we are and have come from God in the first place. At best, we could only return to Him a small portion of what He has already given us. Since humanity was doomed in this scenario, God became human and paid the price for human evil. God paid the demands of justice himself so that He could offer mercy freely to all who would humble themselves and ask. And so God, through Christ, has forgiven us.

We are Forgiven! Now what?

The short answer is that we must now forgive others freely and from our hearts.

We must forgive in the same way we have been forgiven.

Consider this well-known passage in this light:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

We have all heard that we must forgive others, but how we forgive others is talked about much less. What does it even mean to say, “I forgive you,” and how do you know if you have fully forgiven someone?

First, if we think of sin as debt, then forgiveness marks that debt as paid in full. Think for a moment about how you feel when someone has wronged you. You want payback. You want to make them pay for what they have done to you. Forgiveness is refusing payment. It is marking that debt as paid. Forgiveness sets the debtor free in the same way that Jesus paid our debt and released us.

Forgiveness does not begin with a feeling. Forgiveness is a choice and a commitment to release the offender from their obligation. When hurt or offended, our feelings often need to follow our actions rather than direct them. When Jesus was being tortured to death on the cross, his decision to forgive those who were killing him did not flow from his feelings. They were actively mocking him and murdering him at the time. Yet, he asked God to forgive them because they did not understand what they were doing. He did the right thing despite his feelings, not because of them. He cared for their eternal well-being more than he cared for his feelings at that moment. He made a conscious decision to place our good before his own.

However, there is more to forgiveness than just doing the right thing. Later in Matthew, Jesus also asks us to forgive others from our hearts. We are to forgive others in the same way that God has forgiven us. How do we do that? Good question.

Years ago, as I struggled with this, God led me to a verse that I thought was very odd and, at first glance, not very helpful. After all, the verse was about money, and I didn’t see what it had to do with love and forgiveness. This verse is found in Matt 6:19-21:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

As you can see, Jesus was talking about money, but he was really talking about the way our hearts work. When I realized this, the light bulbs slowly started to flicker on. When it dawned on me that my heart followed my treasure, I realized how I could begin to feel more concern and empathy for others. I needed to invest my treasure in them. And my treasure, the thing I value most, is not my money; it is my time and energy.

Let’s Review

We must forgive because we have been forgiven. Our forgiveness should naturally flow from our gratitude to God for His mercy toward us. We must forgive even when the pain clouds our gratitude because love demands we seek the other’s benefit at our expense. This is the way God showed His love toward us, and this is how we must show our love toward others. As we give of ourselves to benefit others, even those who have hurt us, our hearts will begin to feel again. Our world will begin, over time, to grow beyond our pain. We will no longer be the center of our world, but we will live in a much larger world, a world where God is the center and the love of others is our motivation.

This Week

This week, let’s write off any remaining bad debt. When we find our thoughts frozen on old offenses, we know it’s time to get out the rubber stamp marked paid in full. Let’s set some prisoners free this week in the same way that Jesus set us free. Don’t ask yourself to forget. Ask yourself to forgive. I’m sure Jesus still remembers the cross. But I am also sure he has forgiven us. Let’s love even our enemies this week by finding ways to help them, investing our treasure into those whom Jesus died for.

Have a great week!