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A FORGIVING HEART (III)
THURSDAY, MAY 6
Luke 17:3-4

James 5:9

 

“…and if he repent, forgive him.”

 

A FORGIVING HEART (III)
 
Properties (continued). In the second place, however, a forgiving heart is not one that broods over sin, or holds on to sin. Although the Lord commands us to “rebuke” a brother who trespasses against us, He goes on immediately to say, “and if he repent, forgive him” (Luke 17:3).
 
But this leads us to a question that some do find troubling. Does forgiveness depend on repentance? Or to put it another way, am I entitled to withhold forgiveness, if I claim to doubt the genuineness of my  brother’s repentance?
 
Here again, the Lord’s teaching brings clarity. He goes on to say, “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn  again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him” (v 4). Now, if someone commits a trespass (perhaps even the same one) seven times in a single day, and apologises each time, yet continues to sin ‒ clearly anyone would have reason to doubt the genuineness of this individual’s repentance. Yet the instruction we are given is clear: “thou shalt forgive him.” We are to be ready and willing to forgive, as a matter of the condition of our own hearts, independent of any such consideration of another’s repentance. There is no cause for us to withhold forgiveness, and claim justification with the accusation, “He said sorry, but he didn’t really mean it!”
 
We need to recognise that it is not up to us to “test” the genuineness of anyone’s repentance (anyone’s but our own, that is). We are not in the place of God, all-knowing, and able to see and know all the deceitful depths of the human heart. Nor are we in the place of God, as the sovereign judge of all the earth, required to pass judgment on others. This does not mean we should be naïve; and where trust has been broken by some grievous sin, it may legitimately take time to rebuild ‒ but a forgiving heart does not keep a catalogue of past wrongs, such that each successive trespass becomes harder and harder to let go. Only one who is willing to “wipe the slate clean” each time, will be able seven times in a day to say, “Brother, I forgive you.”
 
THOUGHT: The sins I committed against God, He has cast behind His back ‒ what should I do with the sins others commit against me?

PRAYER: O Father, grant me a forgiving heart!

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