THE SECOND, CONVINCING MILE OF FORGIVENESS

 

Almost all of us will have enemies in this life. Those who lead will pick them up like mosquitoes in the summer; the Enemy will see to that.

OUR STRATEGY

If we are faithful followers of Christ, we are called to deal with everyone—friend and foe—the way our King desires. And the model is Him. He told us, and then He showed us as He walked on earth so there would be no confusion. We are to so cooperate with Him and so depend upon His empowering Spirit that we function just as Christ did (and does) toward His enemies.

FORGIVE

First and foremost, we are to forgive. We see this in the opening book of the Bible with the majestic story of Joseph and his forgiveness of his brothers who had betrayed him. He saw beyond their malicious jealousy to the sovereignty of God. “You meant it for evil,” he said to them at the close of his life, “but God meant it for good to bring about this present result and preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). He knew God had a great agenda, and He could even use enemies to accomplish His plans.

And all the way through the Bible to the cross. The height sprang out of Jesus’ heart on the cross as He forgave those who were crucifying Him.

Forgiveness is releasing the debt you feel others owe you. You don’t feel the need to make them pay. It is forgiving those who’ve hurt you, or that you perceive have hurt you, but it is more: it is transferring the issue from your courtroom to God’s. It is letting God be God as the Ultimate Arbiter of all injustice–real or perceived—in our relationships.

AND …

We must not stop there if we are to manifest the fullness of Christ to a needy, watching world. It is going beyond mere forgiveness and loving them and blessing them. This was Jesus’ clear command as He explained how His kingdom operates in Matthew 5.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  (Mt 5:43–46).

God further expounds on this in Proverbs 25 and in Romans 12.

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;

And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

 For you will heap burning coals on his head,

And the Lord will reward you.  (Proverbs 25:21–22)

This verse is hard to understand in our culture. In the Bible days, there was often an open fire in a village where people would come and get coals, often placing them on a basket on their head, to return them to build their fires at home. You can imagine this was a hard, daily job, particularly difficult in various seasons. To “heap burning coals” on one’s head was not a judgment, but a blessing.

When I encourage people to go beyond forgiveness to love and bless those who’ve hurt them, they “explain to me” that they can’t. That, in light of what their enemy has done, love is impossible. I remind them that it is certainly impossible for mere human affection, which can easily be lost like a leaf on the wind. But not Divine love. God IS love and His is a love that “never fails.” If you are a true believer, God’s Spirit resides in you, which means His love is in you. You can ask Him to “shed abroad His love in your heart by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:4) and the fruit the Spirit will display is Divine, enduring love.

Loving the unlovable is one of the greatest evidences of the reality of Christianity and one of the most powerful ways to glorify and manifest Him. What greater gift could we give to our King than to be the vehicle to bring His love to a needy, unbelieving world?