Weekly Word Archives

One Another Series

Forgive One Another

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This is the result of a challenge issued by a very godly, older man who has been in the ministry for 40 years. He challenged us to do a study in the New Testament of the “one another” passages. I did that study and came up with quite a list of ways God calls us to relate to each other. The study made a real impact in my life and I hope that it will in yours as well. I would encourage you to look up the Scriptures in your Bible and see how God may want you to apply them to your circumstances in life.

There are three "one another" issues that are foundational to all others in the Christian life. They also are the ones with which we struggle the most. These three are love one another, accept one another, and forgive one another. Actually you cannot really love and accept without forgiving. The first two have already been discussed. The dynamic of forgiving another seems to be one of the strongest human dynamics there is. We welcome someone who will forgive us no matter how many times we mess up.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

There is a distinct similarity in these two verses. It is the same thing we see in acceptance. We forgive as God forgave us. How did God forgive us? Totally, completely, once for all sins. Nothing we can do will change that. We understand as Christians that God has forgiven us for everything we have done – past, present and future, and that we are to forgive others.

But…what does it mean to forgive? I could give you the dictionary definition or the Vine’s definition, but the one I like best is "to forgive means someone has to pay. But the one who has to pay is the one offended, not the offender." For example – if my husband says something that hurts my feelings, to forgive him means that I will not make him pay for what he has done to me. I will pay the price of that hurt. I will not have an attitude or action of "I will show him if he is going to treat me that way" or " I will say or do something to pay him back for what he has done to me."

When God said that He forgave us, He said, "You do not have to pay for what you have done to me when you sinned against me. I paid the price for that through the death of Christ."

As I seek to forgive another, I understand God’s forgiveness of me and give out of that forgiveness to another person. I also see God’s forgiveness of that person. Forgiveness does not mean that I approve of their action or invite them to hurt or offend me again. But when I do not extend forgiveness to another person, I build resentment and bitterness in my life. We think oftentimes that somehow we are punishing that other person by not forgiving him but the one who is really suffering in unforgiveness is us. Unforgiveness builds barriers in our lives. No one can get close to us without experiencing the bitterness and resentment inside of us.

If you struggle with forgiving someone in your life, I would encourage you to study God’s forgiveness of you in His Word and make that a part of your life. Then you have the resource to show forgiveness to that person and you can begin to see him as God sees him.