Can I really forgive?

I get asked this question repeatedly. People want to know, “can I forgive?” They also want to know, “do I have to forgive?”

Most of the time they are talking about the difficulty of forgiveness.

We all know how difficult it is to forgive. Sometimes people refer to the difficulty of forgiving and trying to forget.

But that’s not what the Bible says. We all know that you really can’t forget, especially something that you try to forget. It simply doesn’t work.

Fortunately, God doesn’t ask us to forget. He simply asks us to forgive.

How can I forgive?

First, recognize that this is God’s high expectation for those who love and follow Him. Jesus made it very plain that people who are forgiven also forgive.

Second, determine to forgive. There is not much that we can do that we haven’t determined to do. If an act or action or attitude doesn’t take determination, it probably doesn’t mean much.

Determination means everything.

Third, ask God to help you forgive. Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock. What we ask will be given to us.

Ask God to help you forgive. He will do what he says.

Finally, dismiss the wrong act against you from your mind. Forsake the thought. Quit reliving the offense.

One of the words for forgiveness in the New Testament describes that process.

Forgiveness comes when we determine to forgive and seek to dismiss and forsake the offense from our minds and thought process. Doing this allows you to live in the freedom of forgiveness and in the power of the gospel.

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