The more I listen to people talk, the more I realize that forgiveness is a touchy subject among Christians. We all know we're supposed to do it, but it's not always at the top of people's list as part of the Christian walk. When you talk to people about how they can improve their walk, how often do they say, "Pray, read the Bible, go to church"? Now, how often do you hear people say, "I should forgive this person who hurt me"?
Once during Bible study I listened to a woman describe how difficult it is for her to forgive some things that have happened in her past, and then she said very matter-of-factly that she didn't believe she had to. I remember being a little shocked by that statement. My first response was, "But we're commanded to!" And indeed we are. We are commanded to forgive, and not only that, but warned that if we refuse to, forgiveness towards our own persons could be in jeopardy. It's something I've done a lot of thinking on: we know we are commanded to forgive, and yet we all know how hard it can be, especially if the offense is grievous. How do you juxtapose those? (And this is not to say that I have never had some pretty difficult, even damaging, experiences in my life to forgive. I have. But I also know I haven't had to forgive something horrific happen as some of the people I have listened to speak on this topic.)
We've been set an amazing example in Christ's very forgiveness of us, and His forgiveness of the people who crucified them, even as He was still on the cross. It could be very easy for us to say, "Yeah, well, Christ was also God. That's easy for Him." Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Christ was also fully human. He's not our only example, though. Joseph forgave his brothers. His brothers who stripped him, through him in a hole, ignored his pleas and cries, and sold him into slavery, leaving him to his fate. This... is pretty bad. This, I would think, would be difficult to forgive. They completely altered the course of his life. Granted, God did what Joseph said He did: He took what the brothers meant for evil and made it for good. Maybe you could say that his cushy new life made it easy to forgive. But I think that misses the mark. Joseph demonstrated wisdom, openness, and character throughout his trials. By the time he met up with his brothers he had not only been a lowly slave, bought and sold on a caravan, but a prisoner in a pit. Have you seen Egyptian pits/prisons? Dark and dank doesn't cover it, my friends. Would prosperity really erase longs years of toil and hardship? I don't know that they do. Observation of people suggests that they don't.
Joseph could have taken vengeance. He could have thrown his brothers in prison and forgotten about them. He had servants at his disposal: it wouldn't have been hard for him to send some to Canaan in search of his father to provide for the family left over. Instead, Joseph weeps over his brothers. He forgives them, pulls them close. He not only provides food, but gives them a new home in the good land of Goshen in Egypt. He more than forgives, he loves and lets go.
I'm not saying forgiveness will ever be easy. I'm not saying that when something horrific happens, we should be able to immediately forgive like a robot. I'm just saying, I don't know that we should ever feel like we're "off the hook" or that we don't have to. God asks us to be like Him, to reflect Him to others. Being willing to forgive in a world that doesn't see forgiveness as a viable response is a shining example of God's goodness and glory. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us. Don't you think He'd help us to forgive, too?
Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 46:1-47:12
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