Before I start there is a principle that I want everyone to understand. In order for forgiveness to take place, a wrongdoing, or sin, had to have taken place. So with that said, here we go. A couple weeks ago I did something that made Skylar a little upset, and with me being new to the whole relationship thing, I was expecting her to be mad at me for a LONG time. I quickly realized that forgiveness in relationships is crucial. She soon accepted the fact that I am human and make mistakes, and forgave me - a concept I really have not understood, and will never fully understand its greatness. Without the forgiveness that is necessary in relationships I would feel horrible. I would feel absolutely dirty. Now, I know that I am not the only one who has had the difficulty of forgiving a friend or family member. A lot of us have family who have hurt us deeply or friends who are constantly making us angry. We all have these kinds of people in our lives and our tendency is to want to get back at them and make them mad at us by saying hurtful things to parents or brothers or sisters or ditching that friend at a movie. No matter what the situation we always feel the need to get back at them. So now that we can see what our tendencies are, what does God have to say about forgiveness? In Isiah 1:18 it says
"Come now, let us argue this out," says the LORD. "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool.This is telling us that God forgives us for EVERYTHING we do and He wants us to use that to our advantage. He takes our souls and cleanses them. Now because God forgives us, He also wants us to forgive the people who hurt us deeply. In Matthew 18 Peter and Jesus have a conversation about forgiveness in which Peter asks Jesus how many times we are supposed to forgive those that have sinned against us. Jesus' response is "seventy times seven." That is a lot of times, so how often we find ourselves going to those that have hurt us and forgiving them? We often find forgiveness difficult, and thats because is it; however, forgiveness can be as simple as talking to them and telling them "I forgive you." The power forgiveness has over a relationship is incredible. We would change the world if we all grasped the concept of forgiveness just a little better and recognized the forgiveness Jesus gives us on a daily basis. The divorce rate would drop drastically, crime rates would go down, people would begin to truly love people. Can you imagine that? Forgive and truly Live.
