“To err is human, and to forgive is divine”. We often say this popular proverb whenever we wrong someone and want to be forgiven. What does it entail? I think we are simply saying that the person should consider our weakness and forgive as God forgives.  What do you do when someone offends you; especially the person you share your life with; you become angry; right? We all know how our feelings turn wild when triggered by anger, yet in the midst of that, God requires us to overcome those feelings and forgive.   The human nature tells you that you must stand your ground and give him back what he deserves, but Jesus says; forgive as I also forgave you.

As for me, it hasn’t been easy; I had made many attempts to forgive as commanded by Christ but failed on several occasions. As I struggled God saw my plight and revealed to me one secret that helped me, and this is what I am going to share with you in today’s post.

Learning from Christ

Jesus Christ is our all in all. He is our saviour and our mentor. A disciple is not better than his teacher. He said we should do what we see him doing, and that will show that we are his true disciples. John 13:13-17. Jesus forgives without measure and he wants us to do the same to each other. But we cannot forgive as Jesus does except we know how.

This is how he does it:

He loves.

The love of Jesus Christ is selfless and sacrificial. It is the love that goes so far, he loves a person even if he doesn’t deserve to be loved; a person that is utterly unworthy of being loved. If you have been forgiven your sins you will testify the love of Christ; you know that you didn’t deserve it. He forgives any type of sin, big or small. Do you recall how Jesus forgave Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christ Followers? What on earth would prompt someone to forgive a murderer not just of unbelievers, but believers in Christ, if not love? What about his words to those that crucified him? He said,

The shackles of death could not stop the love of Jesus Christ from overflowing.

What if you could love like Jesus, do you think it would be hard to forgive your offender? Jesus knew it is hard for us to love in his own way that is why he said, “

when we abide in Christ, he grants us the ability to love in his own way. Do you remember Stephen who was killed with the approval of Saul of Tarsus? Read his last words concerning his killers,

Can you see that it is easy to forgive any offense once we have Christ kind of love?

He is compassionate.

It is compassion that moves Jesus to love the way he loves. When he was on earth, Jesus did remarkable miracles not just to display his power, but because he was moved with compassion toward the beneficiaries. One miracle that baffled me is When Jesus restored Malthus’s ear, a servant of the high priest whom Peter cut his ear at the time of Jesus’ arrest. Jn. 18:10 &Lk.22:50-51. This is a person that came to arrest Jesus, and Peter was trying to fight back, yet Jesus restrained Peter from doing so. Some stories in the Bible sounds like tales because they sound foolish to the natural man, but God’s ways are not man’s ways.  Compassion is God’s nature and that is the force that drives Jesus after us, time and again despite our failures. When you are compassionate, you don’t treat someone according to what he deserves.

He is humble.

Humility made Jesus come down to this sinful world and died a shameful death. He emptied his glory and took to the form of a servant for our sake. Being in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God instead, taking the form of a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. All through his life on earth, he lived a life of service to humanity. His humble nature made it easier for him to forgive generously.

The natural person sees humility as an object of contempt and abuse, but we know that God honours the humble. This is not to say humility is becoming a yes-person, giving in to every whims and wish of your husband rather it is an attitude that dispels any form of ungodliness. It takes the mind of Christ to be humble, the natural minded person is mindful of self but a Christ-minded person is mindful of the Will of God at the expense of his own Will. Warren W. Wiersbe has said, “Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing. If there is to be any blessing, there must be some bleeding”. How easy we can forgive our offenders if we do a little sacrifice by giving up our Will for God’s Will

Beloved, what is your attitude toward forgiveness? Are you struggling with any form of bitterness; you want to forgive but something keeps telling you that your husband does not deserve it? Learn from Christ, surrender all to him, and let him have his way, you would realise how easy it is to forgive. Forgiveness comes with a lot of blessings. It heals a wounded heart, restores a broken relationship, attracts the presence of God in your family, and an expressway to get your prayers answered by God.

Remain blessed.