It’s Passion week. It’s the week we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s a week when we should be reminded the great level to which Christ forgave us.
And we, in turn, are to forgive others in the same way.
This subject matter is pretty intense. Dealing with past hurts in which we were the victim or the culprit are never fun to visit. It is extremely hard to forgive those who have hurt us
Read Colossians 3:12-15 to see how we should forgive:
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
In this passage, God gave us an example of the manner in which we should forgive others. Who is that standard (v. 13)? It’s Jesus. How many of your sins did He forgive? You had sinned against Him, but what exactly had He done wrong to you?
In most of our relationships, even if we have done wrong against someone, that person has probably been at fault in that relationship at some point too. What’s unique about our relationship with Jesus is we are 100% the problem. He hasn’t put a strain on the relationship. He didn’t provoke us to do evil. We did solely on our own without His prodding.
And yet He forgave anyway. Without any fault on his part, He forgave us completely. He didn’t make us pay Him back. He didn’t remind us of our mistakes. He didn’t even wait for us to fix it. It honestly didn’t benefit Him any to forgive us either — He didn’t “get anything out of it.”
And His example is our model. We are to forgive the way Christ forgave us.
Our methods of forgiveness are very different than that of Christ’s.
How do these common phrases differ than Jesus’ approach to forgiveness?
“I can forgive, but I can’t forget” (Read Jer. 31:34).
“But they don’t deserve my forgiveness” (Read Rom. 5:8).
“I may forgive him, but I don’t want to be around him” (Read Eph. 2:3-5).
“I’ll forgive them, but it’s not important that they know I did it” (Read Heb. 12:14-15).
Christ’s forgiveness is so different than ours. We must commit to forgiving others just as He forgave us. In honor of Him this week, forgive like you have been forgiven.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
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