Christ tells Peter we must forgive our brother 70 x 7, a totality, and proceeds to tell a parable to that effect. He finishes, "So it will be for you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." To put it bluntly, you go to hell if you have an unforgiving spirit or heart.
Does that sound somehow harsh? Hardly. Consider the qualities of an unforgiving spirit: Wrath, resentment, vengeance and everything that flows from that. Do these things make us happy? Demonstrably not. Do they add to our communion or fellowship with our fellow men? Errrr, no, they do not. Do they make us attractive? Now that's a hard one. No, they don't.
An unforgiving, vengeful heart is abhorrent to men, and all the more so to God who is in all simplicity mercy, love and compassion in Himself. The unforgiving person, the soul which nurtures hatred, revenge and grievance close to itself eventually becomes what it does. Net result? A soul diametrically opposed to God. There is no place in paradise for such an... entity.
So we must forgive and do so totally. Easy to say, right, but notoriously hard to do when we're stabbed in the back, the blood's flowing and we've been grievously hurt. When that happens we want to lash back in furious rage and destroy our enemy utterly. But hold on, stand by.
When we're tempted by such a demonic urge, and we all are, first consider the parable of the unforgiving steward. Who are we to wreak vengeance when so much has been forgiven, and then pray the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us." With that, ask God in prayer to grant us a merciful, loving, compassionate heart.
I tell you, all ye heathen, that he will grant this request and transform our hearts into the likeness of his own, such that when we meet him face to face he will recognize us as his own and welcome us into the heavenly kingdom.
Now, is all this about being somehow soft on sin? No, it's about fashioning our hearts after the heart of God, becoming like him. Therein lies sanctity, salvation, and the defeat of demons.
Deus Vult,
LSP
11 comments:
Honest question, where does that leave us in self defense? That goes for protecting our family from a home invader or a woman, Putting a knife in someone trying to rape them or responding to the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1942?
Good question, Anon. Self defense is entirely legit. Forgiveness of sin doesn't equate to tolerance of it. Now, holding murderous hatred in the heart is another matter again.
Nehemiah 4:17-18
who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. / And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.
Why were they rebuilding the wall? The enemy had destroyed it to raid and destroy Jerusalem. Why were they armed with alert watchmen aka Trumpeter? Because those that would destroy would attack to disrupt the rebuilding of the wall.
No wall no city no nation.
In smaller scale the home and family. Rebuilding the wall against social media's destructive nature, honor in the family and so on.
In even smaller scale the individual Christian re-learning what the Whole Bible really says. Not one scripture a Sunday with a gallon of social commentary.
You FORGIVE those that offend you and are willing to STOP. You don't allow someone to keep punching you in the face over and over again and you're supposed to say "I forgive you".
There is a REASON it's called the Whole ARMOR of God. You don't put on armor to stand there and get punched while you do the pathetic meek BS.
You wear armor to FIGHT Satan and His minions.
Many years ago a man caused me great harm and in fact almost cost me my career. The first day we met was my first day on a new job. His first words were: 'you were not my choice.' It was a promotion for me. So I happily said I will do my best. The next two years were a mix of enjoyment of the tasks at hand and misery at my treatment by this man. I did not hate him but I detested him with the intensity of 10,000 burning sons.
I took me 30 years to finally come to understand that I really did not want this man to burn in Hell. He has been in my morning prayers ever since.
It was not an easy decision to follow through on.
Thank you,
Forgive is different than forget, You forgive so that person doesn't live rent free in your head.
Exactly, M, and people very often confuse forgiveness with weakness or tolerance of sin. Forgiving someone, and our Lord's emphatic that we must, doesn't mean pretending that their sin's somehow non-existent. He says as much, in his answer to Peter: the unforgiving steward's debt/sin is very much just that. Again, the woman caught in adultery is called out as a sinner. Christ commands mercy, but tells her to go her way and "sin no more."
Now, if someone continually, persistently offends against you and the Church, well, that person must be cast out as a "gentile and a tax collector." Likewise, if a person's coming to kill you and your family, it's your Christian duty to defend yourself, to the point of lethal force.
Does this mean harboring hatred and vengeance on the offender? No, obviously not, and it's just this divine quality of love and mercy that we're commanded to inculcate. Failure to do so poisons the well of our soul.
But to your point, mercy, love, compassion and forgiveness in no way contradict the Church Militant and the armor of God. Combining both can be, ahem, tricky.
WSF, that's VERY well put. Right on the money.
1, it can be so difficult! In fact, I'd argue that it's perhaps humanly impossible given our fallen nature. To that end, I pray for a forgiving spirit daily. God hears that prayer and perfects the heart, making it like his own.
Hey, it doesn't happen all at once, but we persevere and therein, I think, lies an amount of sanctity. That aside, what an excellent comment, most appreciated.
You turn the other cheek. You don't turn both cheeks continuously like some stupid slap-target.
You forgive the trespasses against you. You don't forget the trespasses. Fool me once, I'll acknowledge my foolishness. Try to fool me twice or more, yeah, that's not happening.
It's like helping my fellow man. I'm willing to help just about anyone. Once. My help and charity are like how Narcan should be administered to street drug users. Once, free, only. Next time, well, you didn't learn.
I started as a FDR democrat liberal, as that's what my mother was (dad was an AF officer and about as openly apolitical as possible.) I got better.
It's like all the muslims whining about lack of Christian charities for them. What? Can't your own people help you?
Right on, Beans. Forgiving someone doesn't excuse their wickedness. It does mean leaving the grudge behind, to put it mildly.
FDR? My dad was all about that. After he died, a remarkable priest, my mother said, "Our family always held FDR as a demon."
I had a fun phone conversation with my mother two Christmases ago where I brought out everything, I mean everything, oh so bad about FDR and the Dems. Her response, continuously, was "Well, if that's true why didn't anyone tell us?"
She also accused me of being a Republican. Of which I informed her I was a Constitutionalist. She asked me the difference and I said Constitutionalists follow the Constitution. Simple as that. I walk with a lot of republicans, but...
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