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Verse:“If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” —Matthew 6:15
An Iranian man was so angry when a woman rejected his marriage proposal that he viciously threw acid into her face.
Under Islamic law, eye-for-an-eye retribution is permissible. By order of the court, a physician was about to put several drops of acid into the man’s right eye when the now-blind woman stated that she had forgiven her attacker and didn’t want him to be disfigured. She said, “It is best to pardon when you are in a position of power.”* Those are powerful words, and they are very true. It takes no moral strength to hold a grudge, but it can take a tremendous amount of fortitude to forgive someone who has wronged you. Virtually everyone has issues of some kind with forgiveness.
People carry grudges against friends, neighbors, family members, parents, former teachers, former spouses, or ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends.
Every grudge chains the one carrying the grudge to the person who committed the act that triggered the grudge. It is not uncommon for people to feel bitterness or hatred years after a wrong has been inflicted. Often, people still refuse to forgive even after the person who wronged them has died. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).
Sometimes forgiveness is difficult, but forgiveness is God’s way. God understands how challenging forgiveness can be. As He hung on a cross dying for the sins of the world, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). As difficult as it was to forgive His murderers, Jesus demonstrated the power of divine love and gave us an example, emphasizing the importance of forgiveness. Unforgiveness does not harm the person who perpetrated the wrong.
Instead, it hurts the person refusing to forgive.
Forgiveness liberates the forgiver.
Jesus said, just as God forgives, His children are to manifest the same spirit of forgiveness. Though it may sometimes seem impossible, the grace of God is able to lead people to forgive as Jesus did.