Christian Living

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There are four kinds of forgiveness available to us
By Chaplain Dan Langerock


Just think what life would be like without the benefit of forgiveness. People would always be bringing up the same ‘baggage’ that happened perhaps many years ago. No one would ever heal from their hurts and the bitterness would get worse as time went on. Let’s explore, together, the four kinds of forgiveness we can access:

Forgiveness of Self

Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy when bad things happen in our lives. We keep hammering away at what transpired and never let the subject rest. The Bible teaches two things on this part of forgiveness: 1) once God has forgiven us we are to forgive ourselves (Romans 8:1). 2) Forget the past and look forward. (Phillippians 3:13). It will only make you sick and miserable if you hang onto hurts, so let them go and continue on with your life. The past is irretrievable.

Others forgiving us

This is the only one of the four we cannot control. We can ask for forgiveness but it is not always given. In this case, once you have sincerely asked for forgiveness, give the result to God. He is the one who will work in that person’s life, it is no longer up to you.

This is the hardest of the four, in my opinion, especially if the person tries to bring up the past all the time. The other issue is self-condemnation which we have already discussed. Your part in this is finished once you sincerely ask forgiveness from God and the person, so try to dust yourself off and have a good life.

Forgiveness of Others

Depending on what happened, the emotions run deep and the hurt is real. But the longer you hang onto what has happened without forgiving, will only hurt you and others. God’s prescription is to “not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26) The hurt will burn deeper and deeper unless you deal with it quickly.

The other element of this people don’t like to think about is, if you want God to forgive you, then you must forgive others. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Forgiveness from God

The Bible says we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), therefore we all need God’s forgiveness. We all do wrong things in our lives, but God does not bring them up again once we ask for His forgiveness from a repentant heart. The added blessing to this is that He forgets the wrong and asks us to go on with our lives. I John 1:9 tells us: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. (NKJV)

No, forgiveness is not easy for us, but it is important that we do it in a timely manner. God would not have so much to say about this subject if it wasn’t an imperative for us.

If you are in need of forgiveness from God or others, absolve it quickly. The same is true if you need to forgive someone in your life—don’t let it remain so it can hurt you the rest of your life.

To Cancel Wrong
By Edith M. Thomas

To cancel wrong, it ever was required
The wrong should be forgiven and forgot.
Ah, how well thou and I have conspired
Since I forgave, and thou rememberest not.

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