In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says: Depending on the situation, it may require a time of healing, a time of rebuilding that trust you once had. Just don’t let it happen again.” Forgiveness does not mean “forget-ness.” Being forgiven does not mean that your spouse will just forget about whatever required the act of forgiving. forget-nessįorgiving your spouse doesn’t mean sweeping issues under the rug and saying, “Thanks for letting me know. He forgives us because He loves us and that’s exactly why Anne could forgive me. He doesn’t forgive us because we deserve it. But, neither do any of us deserve God’s forgiveness. She was hurt.Īt this point, Anne could have chosen to walk out on me, and with every right, I think. How could she trust me? How sad did this make her feel? She was disappointed. I had pretended to be something I wasn’t. It also meant I needed to come to terms with some issues of my past.Īlthough the heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders, it became a tremendous burden for Anne. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I shared my sin and addiction with Anne, after much personal pain and confession to God. Yet, it was something I kept hidden from my wife and everyone else. This was something that began as a teenager and progressed into a full-fledged addiction before Anne and I married. For many years, I struggled with pornography. I was on the receiving end of forgiveness. Unfortunately, I can speak from experience in this area. Matthew 6:15 says, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” This is serious business. There was no caveat that said to forgive your spouse when they deserve it or to forgive if they ask for forgiveness. But, He did say that we need to forgive, over and over again. ( Matthew 6:14-15, Mark 11:25) Forgiving the unforgiveableīut, you may think, “What if my spouse does something unforgiveable?” Jesus never said forgiving would be easy.
And Jesus makes the point very clear that unless we forgive others, our Father in heaven will not forgive us. Hearing this story as a child, I thought, “Man, 490 times? That’s a lot of forgiving!” But, that’s the point, isn’t it? We are to never stop forgiving. Jesus first replies with what would seem to be an absurd number of times - “seventy times seven” - and then He follows with a parable about forgiveness ( Matthew 18:21-35). One Bible story that stuck with me ever since I was a kid is the story about Peter asking Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who has sinned against him.
0 kommentar(er)
