Forgiveness on Trial

There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
–Romans 9:14

This week, we will put forgiveness on trial. Should we forgive others or not?

In our secular culture, and even in the church, there are four primary objections to forgiving people who have hurt us.

Objection #1: Forgiveness denies the seriousness of sin. We think forgiving somebody is like saying, “What you did to me wasn’t a big deal.”

Objection #2: Forgiveness lets people off the hook too easily. We fear that if we forgive somebody, we’re inviting that person to abuse us even more. We think forgiving somebody is like putting a sign around our neck that says, “Kick me again.”

Objection #3: Forgiveness places too much responsibility on the victim. It’s like coming upon a car accident, seeing the victim lying in the street, handing him some bandages, and saying, “Take care of the wounds yourself.” We’re asking the victim to do something they can’t do.

Objection #4: Forgiveness is unfair. This is the bottom-line objection to all forgiveness. The reason we feel this way is that we’ve been created in the image of God. God is a God of justice, and He has stamped us with a sense of justice as well.

These objections seem logical, but they’re based on misconceptions about what forgiveness is and isn’t. Forgiveness is not denying the reality of your pain. Forgiveness is not letting your offender off the hook–just because you forgive doesn’t mean your offender gets a pass. And forgiveness is not unfair. God would never ask us to do anything unjust. Romans 9:14 says, “There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”

Then what is forgiveness? Forgiveness is letting go of my right to hurt you for hurting me. When we forgive, we’re saying, “I’m not going to be responsible for settling the score with you. I’m going to let somebody else do that.”

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Forgiveness on Trial,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.