Forgiveness
Compassion drove everything Jesus said and did. Note how often the Gospel writers say He was "filled with compassion" or "had compassion." Sometimes this meant strongly condemning sin. At times Jesus did speak harshly to the religious leaders, but He always did it in love.
And central to that expression of compassion was forgiveness. So often Jesus taught and revealed forgiveness. Considering the essence of Christian theology, that we are sinners in need of God's forgiveness, no wonder it is such a powerful theme in Jesus' life and teachings.
What do these texts reveal to us about forgiveness? Matt. 18:21, 22; Luke 23:34; John 8:1-11; Eph. 4:32; 1 John 2:12.
Jesus often likens His grace to being forgiven a great debt. Imagine you owed someone one million dollars, and they canceled the debt. Imagine how you would feel. That is what God's grace is like. And the reason that debt has been canceled is that Jesus, Himself, paid it for us.
Also, again and again, Jesus taught that those who have been forgiven must forgive others. An unforgiving Christian is a contradiction in terms. Think of the parable of the ungrateful servant (Matt. 18:21-34), the story of Mary and Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50), and even the Lord's Prayer—" 'Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us' " (Luke 11:4, NIV). When we consider what happened at the Cross, and what it cost God in order to be able to justly forgive us our sins, it is not that hard to understand why such an emphasis is placed on our learning to forgive others. Think about our world and how different a place it would be if we learned how to forgive others. Think about the difference not only in world politics but in our own personal relations, our families, our homes, etc. How much resentment, anger, and bitterness resides in you because you still refuse to forgive? How can you better learn to forgive those who have done you wrong?
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