Lesson 5: What Does It Mean to Forgive Others? (part 2)

As we read in our last lesson, forgiving someone is a choice we must make. To forgive is to reflect the character of Christ. Just as God extends forgiveness to us in Christ, we are called to forgive others. To forgive is to extend mercy, to give a gift of grace, and to set the offender free. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
 
You might be asking yourself … What can I do when I don’t feel like forgiving? Whenever you don’t feel like doing something you should do, examine your thoughts. While you cannot control what your offenders do, you can control your thinking about your offenders. God gives us much counsel about what we should sift out from our thinking. Imagine that the Bible is a “thought-sifter” — a tool that helps us sift out the thoughts that should not go into our minds. The Bible calls it “taking every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The verses around this verse are also important to this subject of choosing to forgive: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Forgiving others is necessary for us to be able to battle against evil around us. We cannot be effective soldiers when we are weighted down with that heavy ball and chain as we read in our last lesson.


Evaluate your thoughts about those who offend you. Do your thoughts naturally flow through “the thought-sifter” in the following Scripture passage? “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). If not, catch them before they pass through, and sift them out! When you carefully choose what you will dwell on, your emotions will begin to line up, and you will eventually feel like forgiving. But don’t wait until you “feel like forgiving” before you do so – that weight will continue to stop your ability to battle against evil.

Whom do you currently need to forgive?

Prayer today: Lord Jesus, as an act of my will, I choose to forgive (name). I refuse all thoughts of revenge. I trust that in Your time and in Your way, You will deal with my offender as You see fit. And Lord, thank You for giving me Your power to forgive so that I can be set free. In Your holy Name I pray. Amen.