Forgiveness is...

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

Without forgiveness, we would have no friends, not family, and no relationship with God. But forgiving is not as simple to understand nor as easy to do as it may seem. Forgiving is not forgetting. One can forgive without forgetting as well as forget without forgiving. Forgiving is not a big person getting two little persons by the arms, forcing them to face each other and say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” Forgiveness is not justice. An “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” has nothing to do with forgiveness.

Forgiveness is more like a pardon. The debt is completely canceled, and the record is wiped completely clean. This is what the prophet was referring to when he said, “their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31:34). New Testament writers use the word “justified” (Rom 3:24).

When God forgives, He makes me just as if I had not sinned. God’s forgiveness is so complete, and the forgiven are so cleansed that the forgiveness process is referred to as being “born again” (John 3:7), and a “new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). This process is what Peter identified when he said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). And this is the forgiveness we are to extend to one another: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).

Why are we often remiss in our forgiveness of others? Jesus points to a bad memory as the reason. We tend to forget just how much and how often the Lord has forgiven us. Remembering we are sinners saved by the grace of God will result in a forgiving spirit.