Forgiveness

Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing (Luke 23:34).

I wonder if you can relate to Jim. Jim is filled with a lot of anger. He was mistreated as a child. When he got to be a teenager, he ran away from home. Jim lived on his own; he had to fight for everything he had. He fell in love with a beautiful woman, but her family did not approve of him and the relationship died. He entered military service, and was always the first to volunteer for hazardous duty. Although he learned discipline, Jim still seems like a powder keg waiting to explode; he is slow to make friends, gets offended easily, and generally assumes the worst about people.

There are a lot of people like Jim. They are mad at the world. They have been insulted, abused, and taken advantage of. They have learned to be constantly on guard, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. Strangers are assumed to be the enemy, unless they prove themselves otherwise. Surrounded by nothing but potential threats and hurt, life is lonely and bitter. But the worst part is self-hatred. Deep down inside, there’s a part of Jim that wonders "what did I do to deserve this? I must be a very bad boy to be treated this way." This nagging doubt grew into destructive self-loathing. Now he looks at compliments and friendly gestures with suspicion, wondering what the giver wants from him in return. He walks away from people that care about him because he doesn’t believe that he deserves to be loved. He does reckless things like driving too fast, because he secretly hopes that he might get killed. Jim hates life, and he hates himself most of all.

No one is immune from suffering. We’ve all been taken advantage of, pushed around, and laughed at. It’s easy to get angry. We get angry at those who cause us pain, and we get angry at ourselves for being a victim. Why did I let that happen to me? Why didn’t I stand up for myself? Such anger can blind us to the possibility of love, and cripples our ability to show affection.

But Jesus does love you. His love caused you to be born, and His love took Him to the cross to die for your sins—you are that precious to Him. Many people hated Christ and mistreated Him; but instead of getting angry, Jesus asked God to forgive them. That’s the only way to be free from hate; ask the Lord to help you with forgiveness. Jesus has forgiven you and those who hurt you; ask His help so that you can do the same. Only forgiveness can exchange bitter anger for heart-warming love.