Forgive and Forget

As we head into another Presidential election in 2024, it might be good to think back four years.

2020 probably wracked up more personal offenses in America, per capita, than any other year in our history. (And that’s not just a preacher’s use of hyperbole.) More people got more offended at more people over more things than ever in our 245 years of being a nation. 2020 was the year of the perfect storm – a medical pandemic collided with the social pandemonium precipitated by race riots, which was then slammed into by the political polarization between Democrats and Republicans in an election year. These were driven by the hurricane-force winds of social media and a 24-hour news cycle that churned into every hamlet and home in America, whipping up a frenzy of offsetting opinions, leaving behind the scum of offense across our land. The resulting tensions fractured friendships, ruptured families, divided churches, and traumatized a nation. Not since the Civil War can we truly be called the Divided States of America. We need unity and civil discourse and there can be no unity or civil discourse without forgiveness.

The word ‘forgive’ in the Greek literally means ‘to let go.’ Forgiveness means that I am holding something against you, and I let it go – it’s no longer something my soul is hanging onto. Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, but it holds great promise in enlarging the future. When I forgive you, it doesn’t mean that you are right, and I am wrong (far from it) – or vice-versa if you forgive me. It doesn’t mean that I’ve changed my mind and now think that you held the right opinion, and I am coming over to your position. Forgiveness means I’ve changed my heart toward you.

Forgiveness has to do with letting go of judgment against one another. And judgment is due to some sin or offense that has taken place. One of the difficulties in talking about sin is that what the Bible declares to be sin has gone through a major remodeling job of late. People who used to think that sex was for marriage only and would eat red meat now regularly have sex outside of marriage and, for conscience’s sake, won’t eat red meat. Sex outside of marriage is no longer a sin, but eating a hamburger is. Those who will terminate a baby’s life in the womb without compunction will scream in your face and charge you with great moral offense if you kill a whale. To get rid of the Bible is not to get rid of the category of sin. In the Bible, one person, God, defines what sin is. Without the Bible, six billion people define what sin is. To get rid of the Bible doesn’t remove sin – it multiplies it! If you think that life with the Bible is unbearable, just wait until we get rid of the Bible. Oh, we don’t have to wait! With the Bible, we only feared God’s judgment. Without the Bible, we have to fear the judgment of six billion people.

We are offended by those who are pro-Trump and those who are pro-Biden.
We are offended by those who say we should wear masks and those who say we shouldn’t.
We are offended by those who say that if you’re white, you’re a racist and offended by those who don’t agree with that.
We are offended by those who want to make reparation payments to the children of slaves and offended by those who don’t.
We are offended by those who say Black Lives Matter and those who say All Lives Matter.
We are offended by those who want to change the names of public schools and offended by those who don’t.
We are offended by those who find one failing in the life of an individual and launch Cancel Culture upon them, and we are offended by those who aren’t offended by these things.
We are offended by males insisting they are male and females insisting they are female.

If I’m offended at you, it’s more than just the fact that you may have hurt my feelings or wounded my pride – that happens all the time. To be offended is to experience bitter resentment toward another. If my feelings are hurt or my pride is wounded – I’m the one who is suffering. If I’m offended – I want you to suffer. I hold judgment against you and you need to pay. Get rid of the Bible, and you don’t do away with judgment – you get Cancel Culture. Forgiveness has to do with letting go of judgment against one another. When forgiveness isn’t offered, judgment is inevitable. Someone has said that unforgiveness is when you drink poison and wait for the other person to die.

Stop dying and forgive those who have sinned against you, those who have offended you. It may very well be that those who have offended you haven’t really sinned against you; they’ve only given voice to a different system of values or a philosophy with which you differ. The problem may not be them – it may be you! Go figure! Regardless of who has the problem, when you let go of judgment and begin to tolerate and even love those who differ from you, the problem becomes less onerous and burdensome. Without forgiveness, I only see an enemy – I don’t see someone created in the image of God. It’s easy to move in judgment against someone I don’t see made in the image of God, reflecting His handiwork. But when I see you for who you really are – I leave judgment in the hands of God. Don’t worry – if someone needs to be judged, God will do a much better job of it than you will. Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, but it holds great promise in enlarging the future. “Little children, love one another.” I think the apostle John would even say, “Little children, love the other.” Move from being offended into forgiveness and into freedom. Think of someone who has offended you – forgive them – let go of your judgment against them.