Scar Tissue
“So also My heavenly Father will do to you unless each of you from your hearts forgive his brother their offenses.” Matthew 18:35
Forgive – Forgiveness is fundamental to faith. It is the action that separates human being from human biology. When I refuse to forgive, I move away from alignment with the Father. In the yet-to-be-redeemed world, forgiveness is one of the distinctively different characteristics of Kingdom citizens.
Since we all have some glimmer of this truth, we are often quick to mouth forgiveness. That is a mistake. There is a difference between saying “I forgive you,” and expressing forgiveness from the heart. In fact, the difference is so important that Yeshua emphasizes the point following the parable of the forgiveness of an enormous debt. What matters is forgiveness from your (plural) hearts (apo ton kardion).
So, what does this mean? Yeshua draws us a picture. Forgiveness from the heart can be seen in the way we accept and grant forgiveness. When our actions toward forgiving others do not reflect a proper attitude toward accepting forgiveness for ourselves, the vital component is missing – and the forgiveness is revoked! To accept forgiveness is to embrace the scar of the injury. If we do not feel the hurt, we cannot measure the forgiveness. When we are forgiven, we must engage the pain we have caused in order to understand the magnitude of the grace we have been given. Yeshua recognized this weight in the woman who washed His feet with her tears. As excruciating as it might be, we cannot truly receive forgiveness until we have embraced the depth of the injury we caused. To ask for forgiveness is to ask to be included in the injury, sorrow and trauma.
Once we have been forgiven from the heart, we will know what it means to give forgiveness from the heart. We will know that forgiveness involves pain. It is not the action of polite behavior. It is not a brushed-aside deflection. Forgiveness involves suffering; and no one who has avoided suffering will truly be able to forgive. On the other hand, once we have identified with the suffering we caused, and still have been released from it, we will know what it really means to forgive.
The parable of the forgiveness of an enormous debt pushes us toward a recognition of the urgency of forgiveness, but it does not promote urgency without consideration. The king revokes his forgiveness because the wicked servant never came to grips with the enormity of his obligation. He did not stand in the king’s shoes and consider the amount of grace bestowed on him. Therefore, he was unable to exhibit compassion toward another.
If you want the compassion of God to flow through your veins, you must first embrace the injury you have wrought on God’s name. Until you feel the nails, you will not know what it means to say, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.”
Topical Index: forgiveness, heart, compassion, Matthew 18:35
I pray to be shown the terrible things I have done.
The times when I caused injury and pain to others, but refused to see that pain, and saw only the resulting anger, or retaliation.
I would be shocked or unable to see the cause of their reaction, but only their reaction.
This would allow me to be the victim, instead of the aggressor that I really was.
I would always focus on me, my needs, my wants, and my hurts.
I pray too that I may be shown how to repair the damage I have done.
I pray that my life, from this day forth, will show compassion, understanding and real forgiveness to others, and then myself.
Sounds like the “godly sorrow” that brings about repentance, that then leads to salvation, that then leaves no regret….and then produces in those who truly are sorrowful in this way an earnestness and eagerness to clear themselves, to sense the indignation of sin, the alarm, the longing, the concern and the readiness to do justice (II Cor 7). Contrast that with “worldly sorrow” that is nothing more than the “sorry I got caught” (regret) which we regularly see paraded across the stages of political and pop-culture by those who though given the opportunity to truly forgive and be forgiven, do nothing more than cover their sins and shame with leaves.
excellent brother David.. we see here the difference between “repentance” and “regret.” (I “regret” I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar..).
“Forgiveness” is one of our main “weapons” as we travel life’s journey. And yes, to forgive someone who has “tresspassed against us” is going to cost us. I like the title today: scar tissue. There will be a wound but the “good Samaritan” will pour into it His healing oil and pay the innkeeper whatever is necessary for our full recuperation. And speaking of scars, we must recognize and realize, none of us is going to make it through this life- scar-free. We will be wounded. As the man said.. “I guarantee it.”
Yes, I’ve got a few myself. Both external (and internal). I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. (These “marks” would make a wonderful word study!). My “scars” to me are beautiful. They remind me constantly, I have been both forgiven, and healed. Some of the internal scars are still very much present, but I know G-d is working using these scars in my ministry unto others. I am (as you are) one of those many “wounded healers” our Father uses to accomplish His kingdom work.
I would like emphasize once again though, “I cannot give unto you that which I do not possess.”
If my pockets are empty, I can want all I want but in the end, I’ll come up “empty” and so will you.
I must first receive G-d’s forgiveness before I can “pass it on” to those who “offend” me.
Let’s look again at David’s repentance before his G-d. “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” He “confessed” who he was in the sight of a pure and holy G-d. He “confessed” his sinful state and need of forgiveness directly to YHWH. He “cried out” for forgiveness.
We hear and witness the confession and “cry” of Rabbi Shaul: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7.24) Yes, Paul- who will “deliver you?” (whose very name means “deliverance?”)
And what of this wretch- ”Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a professing godly man and the other a robber. The godly man stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax gatherer. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the robber, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” (Luke 18.13)
A sinner! – can you imagine! A sinner prayed unto G-d!. What nerve! But wait…. the words of Yeshua return… “ask, and you will receive- seek.. and you will find.. knock..and it shall be “opened” unto you..
Whose prayer was heard by heaven? “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18.14)
The “sinner’s” prayer? The one who humbled himself and prayed from his broken heart? -This man was “healed?”
There was another man who prayed. – A perfect man, a sinless man. The only man who ever lived who could make such a claim. This man was “punished” and “judged” as never a man was. The weight of all the sin of all time was laid on Him. He took the entire “weight” of all sin for all time upon Him on Calvary’s tree. Even as they drove the nails through his innocent hands, he prayed.. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Have I been forgiven a debt? What do I owe to this man- my Savior? How will I repay the debt of love I owe? What have I received? From what I have been given, what can I give to others?
Of David. A maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. (Psalm 32.1)
David’s prayer was answered..
Hi Skip
I’m one of your followers in Paraguay South America, and I want to take the job as a translator to spanish
it would be a blessed job to make it.
Also I want to share something about forgiveness on monday I had a motorcycle accident when I was going to wharehouse I have, I was riding over 50 miles on a rainy day when a van blocked the higway when it turned from left to right hand I pushed the brake and the motorbike slipped
on the highway and was riding on top of a fallen lay motorbike till I hit the middle proteccion of the highway and threw me over my chest and stomach in that moment I only asked Father stop the others who’s coming behind me when I stopped I woke up as fast as I can nothing really happend to me only a big scrach on left arm and saw that all those who came behind me stopped a hundred meters , I restart my motorbyke and arrived to the wharehouse surprise¡ the van that blocked the highway was there and the driver was there too¡ when I faced him he only said oh you were the one who falldown sorry and in that moment I remembered that I asked my Father for a miracle and it happened and all the angry I felt disappeared, so I didin’t feel anything about him and I remember that my Father in haven forgave me before and no matter how I am.
Thanks for let me share
Yo creo que si alguien debe saber perdonar es el perdonado. Si no me siento verdaderamente perdonado por Jesús jamás podré calibrar la calidad y cantidad de perdón que me han dado. De esa manera, no hay pretexto para que un hijo de Dios, perdonado, justificado y santificado por la Sangre del Mesías no pueda hacer lo mismo. Gracias por el mensaje que me recuerda para qué estoy en la tierra: para perdonar como lo hizo Jesús en la cruz. Gracias otra vez y bendiciones a toda la comunidad que participa.
Carlos – es asunto de entender en una manera mas profundo, la gracia y misericordia de nuestro Dios por la manifestacion de Su Hijo en la cruz. Gracias por sus palabras y regocijamos juntos en esta gracia.