“Keeping score” is a euphemism for “refusing to forgive.” Are you having trouble with this? Have you ever had trouble with this? If you say, “No,” you’re lying. But you can be forgiven for that…
Forgiveness is a challenge, when I view things only from my perspective. Forgiveness is easy to withhold when I focus on my hurt feelings. But when I look away from myself, when I look to Christ, everything is placed in proper perspective.
A dear friend from my first congregation (I’m currently at my third) had dealt with two very severe life crises. When he was 60, his wife died of cancer – cancer that was quite curable but that had been misdiagnosed for too long and in the end, nothing could be done. 20 years earlier, his daughter – just 18 at the time – had been murdered in Milwaukee. She and her fiancée were killed for their car. No one in either case ever said they were sorry. Neither the doctors in the case of his wife nor the murderer now serving life in prison without chance of parole.
He agonized over the forgiveness issue. These terrible things had happened to him – he couldn’t just forget them, but he had to forgive. He didn’t have to announce or say to the offenders that he forgave them – they weren’t repentant, but in his heart, he had to come to terms with forgiveness – God’s way. Forgiveness without limits. Forgiveness without conditions because that’s how he’d been forgiven. And he did, only by the grace and mercy of God.
To refuse to forgive hurts you more than the other person. It’s like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It’s like punching yourself in the nose and saying, “That’ll show him.” It’s like turning a shotgun on yourself, pulling the trigger and hoping to hit them with the kick of the recoil. It always hurts you. Quite often, when we’re resentful of other people, they don’t have a clue. They’re going on with their life, having a great old time. It’s only hurting you. Don’t let it happen. Forgive. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Let it go. Give it to God. For your own sake. For your own good. Not because they deserve it, but because it’s the right thing, the God thing to do.
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Not an easy prayer to pray. But an essential prayer, because of the eternal implications. And because of the incredible, limitless grace of God. It is a prayer of cleansing for ourselves. It is a prayer of release for others AND for ourselves. It is a prayer that keeps score with only one number – the number 1. The number of times Jesus said, “It is finished.” The number of times Jesus died to pay for all sin, to pay for your sins and mine. Forgiven people of God, forgive as you have been forgiven.
Forgiven in Christ,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
Forgiveness is a challenge, when I view things only from my perspective. Forgiveness is easy to withhold when I focus on my hurt feelings. But when I look away from myself, when I look to Christ, everything is placed in proper perspective.
A dear friend from my first congregation (I’m currently at my third) had dealt with two very severe life crises. When he was 60, his wife died of cancer – cancer that was quite curable but that had been misdiagnosed for too long and in the end, nothing could be done. 20 years earlier, his daughter – just 18 at the time – had been murdered in Milwaukee. She and her fiancée were killed for their car. No one in either case ever said they were sorry. Neither the doctors in the case of his wife nor the murderer now serving life in prison without chance of parole.
He agonized over the forgiveness issue. These terrible things had happened to him – he couldn’t just forget them, but he had to forgive. He didn’t have to announce or say to the offenders that he forgave them – they weren’t repentant, but in his heart, he had to come to terms with forgiveness – God’s way. Forgiveness without limits. Forgiveness without conditions because that’s how he’d been forgiven. And he did, only by the grace and mercy of God.
To refuse to forgive hurts you more than the other person. It’s like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It’s like punching yourself in the nose and saying, “That’ll show him.” It’s like turning a shotgun on yourself, pulling the trigger and hoping to hit them with the kick of the recoil. It always hurts you. Quite often, when we’re resentful of other people, they don’t have a clue. They’re going on with their life, having a great old time. It’s only hurting you. Don’t let it happen. Forgive. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Let it go. Give it to God. For your own sake. For your own good. Not because they deserve it, but because it’s the right thing, the God thing to do.
“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Not an easy prayer to pray. But an essential prayer, because of the eternal implications. And because of the incredible, limitless grace of God. It is a prayer of cleansing for ourselves. It is a prayer of release for others AND for ourselves. It is a prayer that keeps score with only one number – the number 1. The number of times Jesus said, “It is finished.” The number of times Jesus died to pay for all sin, to pay for your sins and mine. Forgiven people of God, forgive as you have been forgiven.
Forgiven in Christ,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
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