Lets start this by talking briefly about regret. The feeling we all get that settles in the pit of our stomach and begins to eat us from the inside-out. We've all experienced this feeling, and it comes whenever you've done something you shouldn't have, like eating one more piece of pie when you were already full. In its most basic form, regret is healthy for us, and will improve us as a person. That conviction that we experience is often from the holy spirit, in attempts to humble ourselves before God and man.
You know how I started this post with an apology? That was intentionally the wrong way of apologizing to demonstrate a point. Lets assume a hypothetical situation arose in which you (the reader) said something insensitive to a friend. When you go to apologize to them, you should start asking yourself why you're going to apologize to them. Is it because you felt guilty about what you said? At first glance, there doesn't really seem to be anything wrong with that reasoning. However, the object in that sentence is you. Not the other person. Admittedly, we apologize sometimes with the intention of making ourselves feel better, not the other person. It doesn't matter how sincere you are; if you are saying something to appease yourself, you've got the concept of forgiveness all wrong. Instead of saying "I am sorry" (Which is a given if you are going to make an apology to someone) you can instead say "I was wrong." The difference here is stating that you were wrong means you are openly humbling yourself and acknowledging what you did was wrong. "I am sorry" gets tossed around so much now that it barely means anything.
What I just said about being sorry can be easily equated to the Christian faith. If someone is struggling with a sin issue in their lives, they will repeatedly fall at first, and they will continually go to God for forgiveness. Use your imagination for a minute and picture Jesus with his own house near where you live, and every time you want to be forgiven, you have to walk or drive over there and say "I am sorry Jesus for that act I committed." Jesus writes you that slip of forgiveness, and you leave, feeling a little better. Until you fail again. And again. And again. Constantly, you return to the house, more than once a day sometimes, and receive that slip of forgiveness time after time again. You now have stacks of the papers. They start to clutter up your room, your office, or wherever else you keep them. What will those papers mean after a while? What will that process of forgiveness mean after a while? Both things will eventually become meaningless. Eventually, all feelings will fade, and we're left with just the action. That's exactly what it's like today. We've become apathetic toward God.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Matthew 18:21-22
The point of Jesus's response here is not to say "You can keep score of how many times you forgive someone and after 77 you can be done with them." No, Jesus is implying that we forgive so many times that we can't possibly keep score. And after forgiving so many times, it should become second nature to us. Forgiveness is not limited to a set number of times; you forgive until you die. Why?
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32
Ephesians 4:32
Forgive as God in Christ forgave you. Through the cross, all sins were forgiven. Paul is saying "Forgive just as God forgave the sins of the world." Forgive every sin, no matter how big or small. The fact is, we very well may not be ready for some of the sins that would be committed against us. Someone could rob us blind. Someone could inflict bodily harm on you or a loved one. Are you ready to forgive something of that magnitude? Can you forgive something like that? We never know what life will bring. We have to be ready at every turn and at every step, through prayer and God's guidance. In our own power, it's next to impossible to forgive some of the harder things. But through God, all things are possible.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
