You Really Hurt Me
33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:33-35
“I’ll never forgive you!” Have you said these words? Are there things
you can’t forgive yourself for? Do you carry a grudge for something? A resentment against someone who has done something to you? I have done some unforgivable things that I have needed to forgive myself for. Some terrible things were done to me that I needed to forgive another for deeply hurting me.
Azaria found that she had to forgive Attor for his cruelty and merciless attacks. She did that. Trust did not come quickly, but eventually it came. Because of her mercy, he was able to face the wrong and sin in his life. He confessed his sin and was wonderfully renewed.
Now I know that forgiveness on that level is rare among us, but didn’t Jesus do just that? Hanging on the cross, having been beaten, tortured, and humiliated, He said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus is our King, our model. Just as He did what His Father did, we need to follow His example.
I have heard many sermons about forgiving others; remember when Peter asked how many times he should forgive another? He suggested seven times, but Jesus told him seventy times seven! Jesus meant we should always forgive.
That doesn’t mean you become a doormat! You forgive but act wisely. You don’t have to stay friends or travel with that circle. Protect yourself!
The act of true forgiveness is required of us. Just think of the part of the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me.” Think about it. How do you want to be forgiven by God? That is the way you need to forgive others.
There is another wonderful thing about forgiveness. All that baggage you were carrying around being mad and resentful? If you truly forgive yourself or another, all that baggage is gone! Does this happen overnight? Maybe not. I remember once I had to forgive someone every day for quite a while before I got over it.
Forgiveness is for you, not for the one who wronged you. I can testify to that. When I was married to my first husband, he beat my eighteen-month-old baby black and blue; it was terrible. I was not saved at the time. I divorced him. My baby was terrified of anything coming toward his face or of water (that man’s idea of washing my baby’s hair was to hold him under the water). It took five years for him to get over the trauma, but I kept working with him, and he overcame those fears. That baby is in his fifties now and walking with the Lord daily.
Through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit and my willingness to follow Jesus’s command, I overcame the anger and, yes, hatred I felt toward that man. My forgiveness did nothing for him, but it took a huge weight off my shoulders.
I need God’s forgiveness; that means I must forgive others the same way I want God to forgive me – and it must come from my heart!
God bless and keep you!
Kate