Recently I heard Jackie Kendall speak on the subject of forgiveness. This woman has been through a lot in her life. As she shared her story, she didn’t seem bogged down about her past circumstances or mistakes; instead she was thankful for what she’s been through. Jackie explained that often the people who have experienced the most grace of God are the ones who are then able to extend the most grace to others. This was evident in her attitude and outlook as she portrayed amazing joy despite all the hardship she has faced.

Jackie talked about living an unoffended life, set free and willing to extend grace and forgiveness to anyone who has hurt you. One thing she mentioned really stuck out to me: “Living like Jesus is not determined by how well you live by the rules or how little you sin, instead it’s defined by how freely you forgive others.”

On the Cross, Jesus forgave an infinite debt of sin that we cannot repay. Even if we could, we probably wouldn’t, and yet Jesus still forgave us.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” —1 John 1:9

The core issue behind an unwillingness to forgive is pride. Forgiveness and justice do not seem to go hand in hand, and in my eyes, they only seem to make sense on the Cross. You see this controversy come up all the time in our culture. When someone commits a crime, some people say we shouldn’t be so hard on them, but others say that we need to lock them up—they have no more chances. If someone is hurt by someone else, they want to see justice done—that’s just a natural way for humans to think. It’s difficult to navigate this balance in our society, especially when our pride gets in the way.

I was amazed at the forgiveness shown by the families who lost loved ones in the shooting in the South Carolina church a few years ago. At the hearing of this hate crime, the families stood up and told the guilty shooter that they completely forgave him. They did this simply because Christ had forgiven them first.

There are things that I do daily that I need forgiveness from. They may be little things, but they are still sinful against God and many times other people. I am thankful to the Lord my family is really close and we have gotten into the habit of forgiving each other often. But we’ve seen times in the past where grudges have been kept for years and seeds of bitterness grow—mostly affecting the person holding the grudge. When I come to a family member and confess my sin, they will often tell me that they’ve already forgiven me. This is when I see Christ the most in other people. This is when I experience the love and forgiveness of Christ in a very tangible way.

Relationships that easily forgive are incredible because they allow you to live out your life in a way that is both honest and open while freeing you from the worry of hurting someone. We all are going to hurt someone and be hurt by someone—we’re human—but the question is, can we forgive?

—Mark Appel

Mark Appel is a regular contributor to The Increase, providing monthly articles and opinions.

View Mark’s Increase Profile here: http://theincreasebaseball.com/author/markappel/

 
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