I had a very interesting discussion with a friend of mine on the subject of forgiveness. We were talking about the book The Shack written by William P. Young, which is about a man's journey to forgive the man who brutally murdered his 5 year old daughter. My friend's view of forgiveness lies in Luke 17:3 "...If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him." The problem I have with this viewpoint is the murderer clearly is not a brother to the man, whose daughter he killed and repentance is highly unlikely.
On the other hand, my view of forgiveness lies in Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Colossians 3:13 says, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." It seems to me Luke and Colossians are addressing brothers in Christ forgiving one another and may not apply to the murderer.
Delving further into scripture, Matthew 5:44-45 says, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven." Lastly I look to Romans 12:17-19, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'it is mine to avenge; I will repay' says the Lord."
We are called to forgive. We don't forgive for the one who hurt us. We forgive for ourselves. We forgive to let go of bitterness, hurt, anger and fear. We forgive because that's what the Lord calls us to do. If we are Christians and the Bible is a lamp for our feet, the light shines on forgiveness. Otherwise, we are left in the dark.
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