Forgive Them

So this one is about forgiveness, in the sense of how and why to forgive people no matter what they do. The short version is people are ignorant of the damage and effects of their actions therefore you should grant them forgiveness and free yourself of the problem.

First our scripture:

Luke 23:34 “Then Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do…”

In this excerpt the soldiers are crucifying Jesus but are honestly quite unaware of the fact that they are killing the messiah and setting into motion one of the most important spiritual processes in the history of everything!! They were simply carrying out an order that was passed down; and further more since there was an excited crowd watching and cheering them on they may have been caught up in the moment. They may have known that they were killing a innocent man but who He was to the history of the world, or who He was to God they were clearly unaware.

            So now us. I assert to you that people that do things that harm or upset you aren’t really aware of what they are doing. Even if they plan to hurt you, they don’t plan or mean the consequences that follow you well beyond that moment. I have been the person in the wrong, the one that was out to hurt somebody either physically or emotionally; but I had no further thought of the effect that it would have on that person. I was simply caught up in the fact that I was upset and wanted them to feel as bad or worst than I felt. I had no idea that I could be harming them for years! Something that would stick in the corners of their minds for the rest of their life. It would affect the way that they interact with others because they want to avoid the feeling that I caused. Also,  I have been the one that was harmed and the consequences of someone else’s ill-fated actions negatively affected me, sometimes these people have asked me to forgive them but I wanted to be mad, I wanted to be the victim so I chose not to forgive. Ultimately I was the one still holding on to the situation while they were presented with the opportunity to move on with a clear conscience.

            We should forgive! People are rarely aware of what they are really doing. A lot of it comes from the spirited crowd watching. Whether it’s their friends hyping them up, or just trying to save face in general.  They may purposefully say things to hurt your feelings but they haven’t thought it through to the point of the insecurities it would create in your life. They don’t know that they are resurrecting fears and generational curses that you have defeated. When a child makes a big mess, no matter how big, and they don’t know any better wouldn’t you let them off the hook instead of holding it against them? Similarly when people lack the knowledge of what they are truly doing you can’t really hold that against them. And I mean people in general, saved or unsaved, just because someone claims Christ doesn’t mean they have as much knowledge as they would think, people that know better do better. So no matter who has wronged you, consider the fact that they don’t really know the impact of their actions and let it go! Free yourself of the dysfunction and follow Christ.

Over and Out J