Forgive Me
Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!
Jesus’ words stand as a testimony to His great love, even for our those torturing and ridiculing Him.
Jesus’ words stand as a reminder of the Lord’s call to each of us to follow in His footsteps:
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 tniv)
Jesus’ words stand as a beacon guiding each of us home after we have been cut to the heart by our own sin and wounded our Savior by our own reckless rebellion.
Forgiveness is hard, yet immensely rewarding work. It sets free the forgiver. It sets free the forgiven. It sets free the grace of God in the lives of community and changes all involved. That’s why it is such a huge part of the Lord’s prayer:
Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. (Matthew 6:12 nlt)
My heartlight.org article is about forgiveness this week, but in the terms of a broken pink lamp and a beautiful white stallion statue with glue lines and a piece missing. Our forgiveness, even at it’s best, only approximates God’s. He challenges us to forgive completely, and when we have sinned, He challenges us to confess completely. To call our sin what He does; to see our offense as He sees it. And when we do, an amazing thing happens with God that we cannot do for ourselves: he forgives us and makes us new by cleansing and purifying us.
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9)
But while we cannot cleanse a person when we forgive them, God can. Such grace is set loose in community where pettiness, gossip, mean-spirited talk, and rivalry exist. And just as evil could not triumph in the face of Jesus’ sacrifice and words of grace, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing,” neither can it survive a community, a family, a church, where forgiveness and grace are the lifestyle. This is a place where God’s Kingdom does come because His will is done.
So please pray the prayer with me and give thanks and mercy for the power of forgiveness to change everything!
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
For yours is the Kingdom
and the power and the glory,
forever. Amen (Matthew 6:9-13 nlt)
I am commited to asking the lord to forgive me, for the sins I’ve committed towards anyone that I love or have loved! Then I’ve forgiven those whom harmed and hurt me in order to move forward. Thank you for this inspirational prayer…..It made my day along side with how the lord granted me yet another day to live my life with passion! Thank you lord God for allowing me to serve you and do your will today! Amen!
Melvina
24 Jul 09 at 8:51 am
Please Lord God forgive me for my sins help me to forgive myself. I constantly relive them in my mind.
Patricia
24 Jul 09 at 10:31 am
Forgiveness of sin, that’s why Jesus came and died. As he forgives us, we must forgive those who sin against us. Do we also aks forgiveness to those who we sinned against. Jesus forgives us when we ask Him, but we also have to ask forgiveness of those we are bad against. That is real gospel. Then can we walk together in His light in the sure knowledge that our sins are truly forgivven.
God is very gracious toward us. Praise the Lord Jesus for what He did for us.
Eric
24 Jul 09 at 11:53 am
Your amazing love and grace is all we need in our hearts to live the life you want from us, so that we may see others with the same eyes of love and grace.
Macon\\\'s in the Carolinas
24 Jul 09 at 12:42 pm
It (Christ centered life) really does go a lot further than \’tolerance\’… God requires us to love. And because of His love we are forgiven, so because of His Holy Spirit in us, we should forgive others, \’cause we love them with the love of the Lord! I love how you brought that out!!! God bless you, your ministry and your family Phil! Praying for yall
KJ
24 Jul 09 at 1:18 pm
I think there are certain things that cannot be changed, cannot be forgiven.
Tina
24 Jul 09 at 2:58 pm
Two things that I have learned about forgiving others is that when you pray and tell God that you forgive the person who has wronged you, try not to focus on what they did that was wrong. Try to see them as if they had done nothing wrong. When you see them this way it is much easier to forgive them. Another thing that I have learned is when you forgive others, it has to be an act of your will. Don’t trust in what your feelings tell you because they will change. Maybe the person who has wronged you did it, not knowing that it was wrong what they did. Some people do things because they see their friends doing it and they think it is allright, but we know that it isn’t. If you look at the person in this way it will make it easier for you to forgive them.
Terry
24 Jul 09 at 3:13 pm
I have been dealing with the issue of unforgiveness/forgiveness for many years, as the result of my dad abusing me in every way possible as a child. I have carried this heavy weight on my shoulders and in my heart for so long, that the pain has finally become greater than the need to hold onto the anger and bitterness. As the result of a debilitating depression that almost took me out, I am now intentionally working on forgiving him and everyone who has ever wounded me…I can relate to Tina because that was my feelings for a very long time. It is true, with my feeble heart and mind, I cannot forgive and I cannot change; but through the grace of Jesus (not just “Christian-eze” speaking, but the absolute Truth…) is the only way there can ever be any change or forgiveness. or forgiveness. God Almighty is the only One Who can heal…if I am willing…
Susan
24 Jul 09 at 7:35 pm
We had a wonderful family reunion last week. I loved being with and seeing our 13 grandchildren get to know each other better. However, the reunion was marred by conflict between two siblings. One daughter, a christian, attacked her sister who is a very liberal unitarian. Both daughters need to better understand the grace of our Lord. Please pray for forgiveness in our family especially that our liberal daughter will see the love of Jesus in our family.
Sue MacDonald
24 Jul 09 at 9:41 pm
I have forgiven others who abused and raped me in childhood with God’s help, but have not been able to forgive myself yet. I know that God forgives me, but can’t seem to bring it all together and forgive myself for something that happened when I was about 9 years old. I feel responsible for the death of another child and don’t know how to work through the pain of knowing an innocent human being died because of my actions. I know it was because I was trying to escape an unthinkable, horrific situation, and that the other child’s death was an accident. But I still feel responsible because I did certain things, even though I knew they were wrong. I am praying daily for God to remove my self-hatred.
Jan
24 Jul 09 at 9:56 pm
A work in progress I share that only through the Lords grace I am able to move ahead and knowing the freedom and joy of peace through forgiveness my prayer is for bondages to be broken and minds to be healed. Just as we give our lives to the Lord and step in faith of His promises so should we give forgiveness to all in faith. God bless
Debbie
25 Jul 09 at 1:12 am
Why are you using a religious song with instrumental backing to the singing? New Testament reference to worshipping God with music are alway “Sing”. Please hold to the old paths (like 1st century to way beyond.) I love your soul and would caution you to do things God’s way.
Geralyn Beverly
25 Jul 09 at 9:35 am
I am glad I heard your sermon (7-26, 1st service) before I read your blog. The sermon will stay with me for a long time. The child that verbally questioned your “Cock-A-Doodle-Do” statement made me laugh, but then convicted me. 7 times 70 is 490 as I figure, but keeping track is not what Jesus was really saying about forgiveness was it. Hearing your sermon and then reading it was a blessing to me. I am sure I will hear the rooster again as Peter did, and it hurts. Man, it hurts!!!
Phyllis
26 Jul 09 at 12:18 pm
Phil, Thank you for reminding us that we are forgiven and that is to rule our lives, even in the most trying circumstances. A real world example…
Forgiveness, The Gift
At approximately 10:30pm on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving a few years ago, a seventy-something mother-grandmother-great grandmother was about her normal routine of preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal for her family. She had an uncanny knack of having everything prepared ahead of time so that there was no last minute flurry of kitchen activity.
The feast would seem to appear on the kitchen island all at once, piping hot, at just the right moment so as not to interfere with the viewing of the Auburn-Alabama football game, the traditional state rivalry that results in a full year of bragging rights for some and humiliation for the rest as there is no neutrality in this state.
This Thanksgiving family get-together would be dramatically different.
She was alone in this rambling house, as her husband of fifty years had passed away a few years earlier suffering a stroke during heart by-pass surgery. As she returned to the kitchen from the adjoining pantry, she was startled to see a young man in his early twenties standing there with his white T-shirt pulled over his face. She was dragged into the family room, thrown on the sofa with a pillow pressed over her face making it difficult to breathe. This was done with such force that it caused painful bruising of her nose. This was the only outward sign of the trauma, fear, and physical pain that she endured as she was sexually assaulted.
After the attacker ran out the door, she called her daughter-in-law, a trained paramedic, who, in turn, called the local police department.
Having spent several hours at the local hospital undergoing the further humiliation of a standard “Rape Kit” examination, she returned home at about 5:00am.
During the morning, other family members who were already on their way for the typical Thanksgiving celebration started to arrive. The disbelief and shock of this violation was beginning to sink in. At least temporarily, this place of refuge, of love and nurturing, of celebrating the love of Christ, had been defiled. This mother of four surviving children, grandmother of nine, and the great-grandmother of three, this widow of one, this believer in the Lord Jesus Christ had just experienced what only a few can really know. Her person, her home, her intimacy had be looted. Sin had become tangible, physical, psychological, emotional, painful, mind-numbing, etched…no words may do this justice.
After being surrounded by family for the next few days, the addition of new locks, and the support of her church family, the Body of Christ, there was still no apprehension of a suspect whom she could only describe by approximate age and skin color as she never saw his face as she was struggling to fight for each breath.
Emotions ran very high in this small Southern Alabama town of five thousand. It would have been easy to take the wrong path. A suggestion of the identity of a suspect to certain residents of this community would have certainly resulted in all imaginable forms of retaliation without benefit of due process. The Holy Spirit was faithful to keep such thoughts, if they existed, unspoken. Yes, they existed if only in passing.
As her children, we were instructed at the knees of their parents that all are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We learned that this great call upon our lives was a gift from a Sovereign and Holy God, one that could never be earned or deserved. As such, the Light of Christ was in each one who believed. God is love; God is just…it was easy to ask, “Where is the love and justice now”?
There was a transcending demonstration of the power and the love of God on Sunday morning. Only four days after this brutal attack, this victim insisted on going to church. The family, expecting to surround her with our love and support in the pew, was about to be taught once again. She took her usual place in the church choir during the worship service. No amount of makeup could completely hide the purple bruising that covered her nose. The emotional and psychological scars were not visible either. However, her presence not only in the worship service but in the choir loft facing all of the fellow worshippers was a glowing testimony that no matter what happens, this child of the King was prepared to trust in the sovereignty of God and the unwavering belief that we are to count it all joy…”Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.” James 1:2.
When asked later that day how she was able to undergo all that she had experienced and still resume her roles in worship and in the nurturing of her family, she answered succinctly and without hesitation, “The Lord is with me”. With her indeed!
Her life had been full of trials through which she always persevered. She would say that there is nothing unique about her life. No matter what our trials or burdens, the carrying of them is not our task alone as we lean on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Helper empowers…”I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”. Phil 4:13
Of her attacker, I have never heard the words, “I forgive him” come from her lips. I have, however, seen the forgiveness in the way that she loves, in her countenance, in the giving away of herself to others. She is not an evangelist; she doesn’t go on mission trips; and is unable to contribute large sums of money in the support of her church.
Her place in the family of God is to serve those as a friend without being asked. She comforts the sick with her visits, care, and food; especially hot, nourishing, homemade soup. Although she would be uncomfortable discussing the details of what she does, it is obvious that her hands and heart are called to minister to others; to be a reflection of the Light of Christ.
For anyone who reads God’s Word, it is fairly easy to understand the biblical practice of forgiveness. It makes sense; we understand the transaction. We can hold on to our hurts, insults, or physical abuses or we can forgive them by releasing our claim on the one who has injured us. Yes, but what about an unspeakable violation?
When we are the wronged party, to forgive is to provide payment for a debt that you did not create. This seems very unfair in our worldly thinking. It is equally unfair that Christ, who was and is perfect in everyway, paid for the sins of all time, our sins. We have to reach down into the vault of Christ’s riches of grace. Again Jesus transfers the riches of forgiveness into our accounts the moment that we embrace Him as Lord through faith in His atonement on our behalf. We still have a choice. Taking the world’s philosophy as the standard, we can be consumed with hatred and the need to get even. Choosing to obediently pay the debt of others with the currency of Jesus will free us and glorify Him. He has paid for every slight, every hurt, every deception, every violation, every transgression or offense of Holy God. When we forgive in this way, demonstrate an understanding of the magnitude of our own forgiveness.
In the words of our Lord, “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21-22
Jesus gives us this instruction for our benefit. As we forgive, we no longer carry the burden.
This family matriarch recognizes that she is forgiven and that she must be forgiving. The testimony of her life and actions are a sterling example of what it means to forgive in practical terms. Not in a meek way but in exhibiting the power of one totally given to the sovereignty of her Lord, no matter what.
Having seen this modeled before me, I have been able to earnestly and honestly pray for the salvation and forgiveness of the attacker who is now serving a twenty-year prison sentence. The Sovereign power of our Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can save this sinner if it is in His will. I am led to ask the Lord to conform my will to His so that I may be a witness to His loving grace, a reflection of His costly forgiveness.
This is the sin debt that we all owe. Since it is a sum that we can never pay, it puts us in the position to rely only on our God who continually supplies all of our needs. As this Southern Lady demonstrates her love for her family and friends, so is the grace of our Lord. The more we give away to others, the more He re-supplies in us. (John 1:16).
We whose eyes are opened see the providence of God call us, lead us through the example of those that we love, allow us to see His love and forgiveness modeled, see the positive results for ourselves, and are guided to live lives that honor Jesus Christ.
What a table of love He has prepared for us. As we dine, He becomes more and more part of us and His likeness is seen in us more clearly as we trust Him. As we grow and glow with His truth, we find ourselves longing for that ultimate dessert that lasts into eternity.
In the words of Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 4:32-5:2
God, our Father, has chosen to use you as a witness to His Glory in a dark world. For your love, Light and teaching, I love you Mom.
Roy Liddell
26 Jul 09 at 1:43 pm
There are people who cannot understand forgiveness as they cannot forgive themselves for what they have done to others. it takes time to be able to forgive someone who has violated you. But with time, you learn to let go and become amazed at how you can still pray for that person who abused you once without feeling the hurt of past years. It’s called the love of God.
Aggie
27 Jul 09 at 2:37 am
I find it hard to forgive myself. it haunts me everyday of every minute. i just can’t even stand the taught of my sins.
Hana
27 Jul 09 at 11:52 am
I can forgive myself, because I know my forgiveness was paid for with Christ’s blood.
I do struggle with what is God’s way, and what is Man’s way. At this point in my life I’m concerned with salvation, and I just cant believe things like instrumental or not are salvation issues.
Mike
27 Jul 09 at 5:52 pm
I think that forgiveness is the hardest thing I can put it into practice. But tonight, the forgiveness of my Lord on the Cross encouraged me to forgive someone who hurted me before. Byond the forgiveness, I decided to become my friend with her.
Thank you Lord for allowing me to forgive my friend from my heart truely according to your love.
Thank you Jesus for loving us unconditionally.
Lord, let me not hate anyone even though others hurt me.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Mira Ahn
29 Jul 09 at 10:23 pm
What an incredible description. I sure had enough white horses and lamps in my life. I am so grateful for Him.
Heather
31 Jul 09 at 7:37 am