Forgiveness - Part 3
Forgiveness looks past failures, faults, and pride in order to see the future.
Forgiveness will always be a sacrifice. We have to be willing to lay things down in order to truly forgive people. Our flesh and emotions will almost never want to forgive someone unless we are also gaining something. Forgiving someone because we need something from them is a lie. It will always cost us something and that something is our pride.
A prideful person holds onto other people's mistakes even after they have apologized. If they ever do apologize first, it usually comes from the thought that they are "being the bigger person," when the truth is they think they are the bigger person whether they apologize or not.
We've all experienced someone like this. We may have been this kind of person before we knew Jesus. Either way, we know that they are almost impossible to have a meaningful relationship with because pride leaves little room for anyone else.
Humility is essential to forgiveness. When we're humble, we can lay ourselves down for others. Humility can take the temporary pain of sacrificing pride even when we think the other person doesn't deserve our forgiveness.
This is what Jesus did on the Cross.
He willingly laid himself down for people who did not deserve forgiveness. He knew that victory and peace were on the other side of His humility. He looked at what was going to be instead of what was.
"Let us look onl to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But He accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before Him. And now He is sitting at the right side of God's throne," (Hebrews 12:2 NCV).
Forgiveness looks past failures, faults and pride in order to see the future. Forgiveness creates a future of freedom and the only way to get there is humility.
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