Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
Forgiveness Isn't Easy
Since it benefits the forgiving one, it should be easy for everyone.
But it is not.
We are rarely willing to forgo a debt someone owes us.
It wars against the core of our innate sense of justice.
If someone has betrayed you, how do they pay that debt back?
What "currency" is available for many of the debts owed to us OR that we owe?
What if the person you need to forgive is no longer breathing? How do they pay you back?
So, this whole forgiveness transaction is deep and challenging, not easy.
But it is doable as a follower of Jesus.
Not only have I been forgiven, but He empowers me to forgive others as I have been forgiven.
Often, it starts with, "Make me willing, Lord," because of how true it is that my sense of justice says, "No way."
I believe that God has commanded forgiveness because it is an essential daily need like eating; He will work it in me since He works in me to will and do for His good pleasure. (Phil 2:13)
It is a spiritual transaction that God completes since He has the currency needed to satisfy our and other's debts.
Have you accepted the forgiveness of God found through Jesus Christ?
To whom do you need to give the forgiveness you have received?
Oh, Lord, make us willing to let go of the chains that bind us to others. Amen