{"id":97,"date":"2015-09-30T21:25:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T21:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2015\/09\/the-ongoing-business-of-forgiveness.html"},"modified":"2015-09-30T21:25:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T21:25:00","slug":"the-ongoing-business-of-forgiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/felixculpa\/2015\/09\/the-ongoing-business-of-forgiveness.html","title":{"rendered":"The Ongoing Business of Forgiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Forgiveness is a huge part of the Christian\u2019s life. If we don\u2019t know how or we refuse to forgive those who have hurt us, we can be assured\u00a0that we are not Christians at all. Forgiveness is at the heart of Christianity\u00a0because it is at the heart of why Christ came. And after all,\u00a0Christ did say that if we do not forgive, neither will we be forgiven (Matt. 6:15)<\/p>\n

For me, the\u00a0difficult part of forgiveness is that it\u2019s not typically\u00a0a one time event. Sometimes it is\u00a0ongoing because someone hurt me deeply, and it takes years to finally come to a point where I can say I\u2019ve fully, unequivocally forgiven \u2013 and even though I get to a point where I can say<\/em> it, I have my doubts that I mean<\/em> it. <\/p>\n

At other times, forgiveness is ongoing because someone keeps<\/em> hurting me.\u00a0I can look at the type\u00a0of situations as an\u00a0opportunity to practice my math \u2026 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see, 0 x 7 is 0, 7 x 7 is 49 so\u00a0I gotta forgive this twerp\u00a0490 times.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Or\u00a0I can remember that the mathematical equation is beside the point, and that the real\u00a0point is that there should be no end to my river of forgiveness because there is no end to Jesus\u2019 river of forgiveness. <\/p>\n

The concept is easy, but it can be incredibly difficult to live out. <\/p>\n

The easy thing seems to be to live angry.\u00a0But is\u00a0anger\u00a0truly the easier route? Anger just rips a gals\u00a0innards\u00a0to shreds. It accomplishes nothing of value, and harms to the point of even physical destruction, while\u00a0the person who has offended seemingly suffers nothing. <\/p>\n

Recently, God has put me to the test in the area of forgiveness. I often say to Him, \u201cI\u2019ve already forgiven so and so who did such and such.\u201d\u00a0But then\u00a0He places\u00a0so and so who did such and such back into my life\u00a0to\u00a0re-establish a relationship with them. In other words, He tests me.\u00a0And the testing causes\u00a0me to realize how much of a lifelong process forgiveness can be. It\u2019s tempting to think we have a duty to forgive \u2013 once. And then we move on. But cuts are deep and scars never heal, right? <\/p>\n

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Right. Just ask Jesus. He\u2019s also\u00a0got a few scars that constantly remind Him of what others did to Him. \u201cOthers\u201d being me. Brenda Renee Coats. I\u00a0crucified Him. And yet it\u2019s impossible to ever\u00a0be a bigger sinner than He is a Savior. He is always willing to forgive me for any sin I\u2019ve ever committed, am committing, or will commit. <\/p>\n

How can I be willing to do the same? How can I do<\/em> the same, and not merely<\/em> be willing to do the same? Or willing to be willing? Sometimes willing to be willing is all you can say you are. But at some point, it\u2019s time to move on from willing to be willing. It\u2019s time to actually\u00a0be willing And then it\u2019s time to move from willing to actually forgiving. And forgiving again. And again and again. Just\u00a0as Jesus does. <\/p>\n

These\u00a0are baby steps I\u2019m speaking of, but they\u2019re important steps, too. Because if you take a lot of baby steps, pretty soon (or maybe much later), you can look back and see how far you\u2019ve come. God will challenge you along the way. He\u2019ll throw a boulder in your path. Or a patch of ice. He\u2019ll let you fall. But He\u2019s also always there to pick you back up after you\u2019ve bashed your toe, broken your hip, or scabbed up your face.\u00a0You\u2019ll be ugly and walk like a Weeble, but you\u2019ll still be His. <\/p>\n

Ironically, while you\u2019re so wrapped up\u00a0with the\u00a0business of ongoing forgiveness, so is He. And it\u2019s the realization\u00a0of\u00a0how deep your own<\/em> forgiveness\u00a0runs\u00a0that keeps\u00a0you in the ongoing business of forgiving\u00a0others.<\/p>\n

The cycle is beautiful, tedious, and taxing. But also required if we claim to be a follower of Christ. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forgiveness is a huge part of the Christian\u2019s life. If we don\u2019t know how or we refuse to forgive those who have hurt us, we can be assured\u00a0that we are not Christians at all. Forgiveness is at the heart of Christianity\u00a0because it is at the heart of why Christ came. And after all,\u00a0Christ did say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Ongoing Business of Forgiveness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Forgiveness is a huge part of the Christian's life. 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