Grace Received. Grace Given.

In a way, those of us who have sinned deeply, sinned greatly, are at an advantage in this desperate egocentric world.

While some might be tempted to seek a self-serving justice for perceived wrongs, we know better.

Those of us who have been forgiven much should understand better how to forgive much ourselves.

Grace received. Grace given.

Haven't we all been forgiven much? Shouldn't we all filter our frustrations and those offenses committed against us through a lens of grace, the very same lens that our wrongdoings have been filtered through? 

When cultivated correctly, a patchy past can serve a powerful purpose. Understanding the weight of sin being lifted and the penetrating power of forgiveness should foster a greater tendency to forgive others. 

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

Forgiveness is hard to keep in mind when it catches you off guard though, isn’t it? Or when it’s not as clear cut as an apology. What if someone doesn’t even know they’ve done wrong? What if time has partnered with bitterness and resentment to harden us in a way that we feel justified in withholding true grace and forgiveness? It’s harder to forgive when opportunities are disguised and nearly unrecognizable. 

Learning to forgive and empathize goes hand in hand with learning from those mistakes we’ve come face to face with, which shape our character. 

We live in a world where mistakes and sins are highlighted like never before. Social media makes permanent and shareable the types of wrongs or mistakes which used to fade from memory, enabling the masses to comment and criticize. It’s the norm now to maintain the division, to oversimplify opinions that are different from our own, to withhold grace and forgiveness in the name of perceived righteousness.

Right along with daily bread, though, Christ teaches us to pray about forgiveness: The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

The benefits of confession and the need for forgiveness is undeniable. The mention of forgiving those who have sinned against us is easy to gloss over. 

Are we to stand upright in the face of this often ugly world who crouches at the ready to tear us down with their own criticisms and say "Here I stand, I can do no other?" Absolutely. Are we to bite and bark defensively, hardening ourselves against those who Jesus loves and cares about in matters that may not be as black and white as we’d prefer to believe? This we should not. 

Christ’s love for us compelled him to the unimaginable, death on a cross. That payment covered our own sins as well as all those who have sinned against us. We dwell together with those other sinners, all one group of recipients of ineffable love and sacrifice. 

The ability to look around us and see all those whose lives touch our own as fellow broken and forgiven sinners should encourage us to think twice about our words and our actions. We are called to take captive thoughts that are not obedient to Christ’s command for perfect love, and make them so. 

Grace received. Grace given.