The Art of Forgivness Part 2

On October 30, 2004 I posted The Art of Forgivness: Part 1. The focus of the post was the relative nature of modern forgiveness. Forgivenesss has been reinvented, and has more to do with self-help than reconciliation. Biblical forgiveness presupposes an absolute divine standard of right and wrong. The requirement for true Biblical forgiveness is to first recognize this standard because if there is no true standard for good and evil, right or wrong, there is no real offense. Once this standard is recognized we have a basis for cofrontation, repentance, and reconciliation.

What is forgiveness? The Christian finds the answer in God's word, and the blueprint starts in Genesis and is completed in Revelation. Christ is our living example, so it is to him that we ultimately look for the full answer. God has revealed his moral standards in the Law he gave to Moses, and Israel is the example of how God seeks reconciliation when his law is broken. Even before the law of Moses and the birth of Israel, we are given a consistant model for dealing with individuals who have wronged us. The path to forgiving is layed out before us, so lets take a step at a time.

When to confront. We have all experienced having our feelings hurt, being let down, or had moments of disappointment in almost every kind of relationship. Family, freinds, co-workers, and business associates, any relationship has the potential for causing us pain. The difficulty is in recognizing when we have been objectively wronged, or if what we are experiencing is a difference in personality traits, poor comminication, differences of opinion, or the differences in which people communicate their feelings, desires, opinions, and just about everything else for that matter. If we attempt to get an apology for every percieved wrong, we can damage healthy and vital relationships. We need to be aware of our differences with others and the uniqueness of all individuals.

The Christian perspective is that humans are created in the likeness and image of God, but have fallen in adam and have become by nature sinfull (Rm 3:12). We must continuously keep this in mind as we percieve the wrongs done to us (Mt 6:12). The scripture say that love covers a multitude of sins. We can use this principle to be gracious to one another, and to prevent ourselves from badgering one another over our faults and weaknesses. God does not give us pound for pound accoding to each sin we commit everyday. He gives us grace and love in Christ to fall and get up; through his great love, our love and obediance toward him is given time and patients to grow and mature.