"And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on God's. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself." Corrie Ten Boom
As I sit here and write this article, every report coming out of the medium out there is announcing the demise of Usama Bin Laden. People in the United States are dancing in the streets, are on their phones calling into radio talk shows and posting onto Facebook to express their pleasure the supposedly king of terror is dead. An individual just stated that now that Usama Bin Laden is dead, the relatives of those murdered on nine eleven can now be at rest. What? His death has the ability to ultimately transform their anguished hearts into one of acceptance, rest and peace? Don't misunderstand me, I suspect it's important that justice be served when at all possible. However, when one has been awfully maltreated, perhaps to the point of their life being devastated, what real power, other than consolation, does justice have to heal those damaged hearts and rebuild their damaged lives?
Ms. Corrie Ten Boom, the lady accountable for the quote above, experienced incredible torturer and pain at the hands of the Nazi’s during WW2. Corrie was a unmarried lady who resided with her sister and aged father in Amsterdam when the Nazi's rose to existence and started their conquest of Europe, killing millions of Jewish people in their conquest. Corrie’s kin was accountable for rescuing the lives of over 800 fellow Jews, destined to being murdered by the German Nazi”s.
Corrie Ten Boom’s father made watches and Corrie and Betsy who was her sister took care of the family place of business in their little city of Haarlem. Till one day, they, along with other relatives, were cruelly snatched from their very own home and sent to different concentration camps. It was in those camps that her father, her sister Betsy, a brother and her nephew all were killed. CorrieMs. Boom came out of it alive and then went on to share her inspiring story of The Lord God's love and the power He allows us to have to forgive, which enabled her to survive and flourish in the years following the nightmare she went through.
Now, it could well be that you do not have a loved one that has been tortured or was murdered at the hands of a terrorist or Nazi, nor have you experienced that kind of agony in your life brought on by another. Yet, it might be that you've been deeply hurt or tricked, abused or maltreated and it's been tearing you up for months, maybe years. The pain it has brought on you won't leave and you are in an emotional jail as a consequence.
Hopefully, justice has or will be served at some particular point or another when the ones who caused it are brought to justice for agony they caused. If not justice, perhaps, it may be the implications of their behavior come back full circle to damage them because of their actions. Nevertheless to accept that justice or retribution will bring the healing and reassurance necessary to move on, is to be deceived and is a set-up for disappointment. What if justice isn't served and people who fail you or inflict awful pain, don’t pay for the hurt and pain in any fashion? What do you do then?
As tough as this is going to be to accept sometimes the only possible way to healing and restoration is thru forgiveness. No doubt, many will cower at the very thought of forgiving the one answerable for so much agony in their lives. Humanly speaking, it makes no sense in any way. Yet, there isn't any bigger power to allow us to release ourselves from the agony, inflicted by another, than to forgive the person who caused our hurt.
The alternative to forgiveness is detrimental and can have tragic consequences. It is like a fire that smolders in your heart and smothers the soul. It's so insidious that one is frequently not aware about the damage it does, till it is too late.
Unforgiving people believe they are victims and feel justified in doing so. They're often obsessive about the wrong done to them and are fast to point out to anyone who will listen that no one has any idea how much they have suffered or how much they have been hurt at the hands of someone else. They're right, most people can not nor will they ever actually know the suffering of another, yet what's the benefit of staying in that unhappiness and trying to draw others into it along with them? How can that be healing?
Unforgiving people show signs that should alert them to the damage occurring to their souls as they live out their unforgiveness. They're fast to claim rights. They're also terribly sensitive to any wrongs done to them, without reference to how small it is. They are obsessive about the bad things that have happened to them in the past and are absolutely certain no one's circumstances were as rotten theirs were. They enjoy their pain seems to give them over others and enemies alike, as they seek to demand pity and understanding. They're indifferent to the pain their unforgiveness inflicts on others and simply not grasping or caring that staying on their pain only serves to make everyone else around them miserable. In brief unforgiving people are some of the most sad folks in the world.
Therefore if unforgiveness is an argument for you, what do you do about it? The very first thing is to recognize that God Himself has given the offer of complete forgiveness to you, should you choose to receive it. You His unconditional forgiveness by accepting His Son Jesus Christ and admitting that He's Lord and then asking for your Heavenly Father’s forgiveness. Scripture says we're all sinners and in need of His forgiveness so we could be reconciled to Him.
When you receive that forgiveness, Scripture shows us that you receive the power of Our Lord God, thru God’s Spirit now living in you, to do the things He requests you to do, like to give forgiveness to others regardless of how terrible the hurt or pain. It doesn't mean you reject the wrong doing or the agony it caused or that you attempt to excuse it or make a case for it in any fashion. It'd be disingenuous and demeaning not to recognize and acknowledge something extremely hurtful and inexcusable was done to you and that it shouldn't ever have happened. It might also minimise the power of forgiving to bring healing to a damaged heart and a devastated soul.
How To Forgive Someone
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