Practising Forgiveness

         

                                         
                    Practising Forgiveness



Forgiveness. Most of us would find it hard to discuss our faith without mentioning it.

One of my childhood memories is my dad reading me Matthew 18:21-22: ‘Then Peter came up to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”’ It didn’t make me any more willing to forgive my brother, but it did teach me early in life that forgiveness is important to God.

Ultimately, as Christians, we know we need to forgive others because it’s a command from God. If we believe He has a perfect plan for us, then forgiveness will do us good, as well as those we forgive. It’s also hard to deny this when Jesus himself is the greatest example of forgiveness there is. His forgiveness of all our sins sets us free from condemnation, able to experience life in abundance.

But few of us would say it’s easy. Where we’ve been genuinely hurt, forgiveness isn’t something we always want to do. Forgiveness is a risk. We might look weak, we might get hurt again. Often, it’s most difficult when others close to us have been hurt. I like to think I find forgiveness fairly easy these days, but in reality that’s more the case when someone has hurt me. When a family member or close friend is hurt, it’s harder to let go of ill feelings towards the person who hurt them.

But God commands it. He doesn’t make mistakes. We know that we like being forgiven, whether it’s the saving grace of God forgiving us or the people around us giving us another chance. We also know that if God wants us to do it, He enables us to do so. He provides the Holy Spirit as a helper so that we can be like Him.

Forgiveness is an important theme in my novel, A Silent Song. The main character suffers rejection and trauma and has some huge things to forgive. How is it feasible that she is able to forgive people who have caused great harm to her and those closest to her? It’s because she learns to do it slowly. Early on, there is a row between her and a friend. Cultural differences and Els’ past experiences mean harsh words are exchanged. However, another friend is able to pour oil on troubled waters by explaining the misunderstanding and Els forgives her friend. Later in the story, Els can forgive much bigger mistakes, which I don’t think she’d do without these earlier experiences.

God does this too – and a lot better than I do! There are many examples in both testaments of the Bible of people forgiving others, from Joseph forgiving his brothers to the story of the prodigal son. These build towards the picture of Jesus’ forgiveness and the freedom that brings. A freedom we can show others.

It isn’t easy but forgiveness has an impact like nothing else and this makes it worth practising.

               





Rebecca Seaton mostly writes fantasy but would love to write a crime novel one day if she could just pin down a coherent plot. She manages a behaviour recovery provision for primary children and is on the advisory panel for Pen to Print, a Barking and Dagenham-based initiative for supporting emerging writers. These days, she gets on really well with all three of her brothers!