They can’t be allowed to get away with it!
Forgiveness really has nothing to do with whether or not a person gets away with something. Everyone will answer to God for their actions; God is the Judge of all. We are the judges of no one, and God is very particular on that point. If we seek to judge others, we will be required to answer to God for our sin. In some instances, the person who has wronged us may have consequences with the law of society, and your forgiveness doesn’t get anyone out of that consequence. What factors are really behind this misconception? Here are some possibilities you might consider:
Pride, revenge, jealousy, resentment, anger, rage, control issues, embarrassment and the like, yet Jesus taught us that we are not to judge others, lest we be judged. Don’t these kinds of feeling really just seek to justify our appointing ourselves to take God’s place and hand down our own judgments and punishments to those who have wronged us? Certainly this is offensive to God.
I know a pastor whose church received damage one evening when a young man deliberately crashed into the front of the building. An alarm went off and the police came and caught the young man as he tried to flee the scene. My friend went to the local jail to visit the young man, and came to discover that his actions had little to do with the church or the congregation, but rather had to do with his messed up life. My friend made it clear to the young man that he was already forgiven for what he had done, but that they would be pressing charges because he needed a lesson in how to live in the community. He also made it clear that they would like the opportunity to show the young man a better way of life and a loving community. When the young man was released, the pastor picked him up and took him to dinner, and they began their relationship. Now, several years later, this young man is a follower of Jesus Christ, active in the church community and well on his way to a completely different kind of life.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What good would have come from the pastor reacting to this incident with anger, resentment and rage?
Life Project Blog 
Answer to the last question? None whatsoever, In fact, the congregation, or at least some of them, may have joined in with the pastor and made things worse; ruining their testimony.
Anger is not good. Best to get rid of it while still possible.
Thanks heaps, Don. These teachings just keep on speaking loudly to me.
I’m very glad you are finding them worthwhile; thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it!
Wow Don…what a great testimony. What if they had reacted differently huh?
No kidding! That poor dumb kid would be bound for hell, with a stop in the state pen!
Reblogged this on The love of God and commented:
This could do with sharing. Get rid of your anger while you still can. Do not allow resentment to build; ruining your testimony. The Scripture tells us: “Do not let the sun go down on your anger. That’s a commandment, folks.
Don, thank you.
Because therein – for me – also lies a great response to this misconception I keep bumping into of love and God stuff.
A love that is presented as “cuddly, fuzzy, spineless, wishy-washy, formless, you need rules – where are we without rules” kind of love. A love that is not the answer. Never will be. No accountability. No backbone.
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What good would have come from (the pastor) reacting (to this incident) with anger, resentment and rage?”
You have taken this “forgiveness” on a wonderful holiday – I am seeing a whole new side to the word.
Last year when my wife asked me to write up a study for her ladies’ group on this, I had no idea how much I would see that I hadn’t really noticed before. 🙂 I decided to blog on the subject because the groundwork was already done, while I’m on this trip… and once again, I’m coming to see that the subject is bigger and deeper than ever. It is really amazing how smart our Lord is!
And amazing how He places smart cookies to make the smarts so much more “simple smart” for those like me!
(yes that is a compliment – and as I have heard you shamelessly marketing your blog in your podcast – please accept it “as is” – it is sincere affection)
🙂
Thank you Paul… and I plead guilty to “shameless” ads for the blog. What else can it be, if I actually rip off the tagline of the “Washington Post”?
“If you don’t get it… you don’t get it”
Having taken many a homeless person to lunch, I didn’t care what folks thought. It was always an upset in the restaurant at times, but hey, their problem!
I seem to recall that Jesus didn’t always hang with the “pillars” of the community either! 🙂
A lot of wisdom in your post today! Thank you for sharing the story of the young man and the way the pastor chose to respond to it! Last year, we had a similar situation at our church when a young man broke into the church and smashed many windows, including a couple of the stained glass ones. Our pastor also forgave that young man and encouraged all of us to do the same and pray for this young man. The young man is on our prayer list still and will remain there. Forgiveness is not an easy action to take but makes a difference in very large ways at times. God uses it in very wonderful ways. To God Be The Glory!
Amen!
Amen, so well spoken my brother, thank you for sharing the power of wisdom and knowledge.
Reblogged this on A Guitar with no Strings.
Pingback: Common Misconceptions about Forgiveness (2) | A disciple's study
Yes! Praise God for Christians who forgive. How can we do otherwise, if we have Christ’s Spirit in our hearts? Since we are called to love God, one another and our neighbor, is there anything more clearly the Spirit of Christ than forgiveness? It was Jesus’ last prayer and also Stephen’s.
Exactly right!
What a great example as to why we as Christians should express more love and understanding! I think you’re right most of the time we are so concerned that someone who hurt us is going to get away with it, that we take matters into our own hands and we end up making things worse for ourselves. “Revenge is mine said the lord” although this is true we still shouldn’t wish anything bad on anyone. Great post
Thank you