When we feel the guilt associated with offending someone or sinning against God, we should immediately seek forgiveness for our action. When it comes to seeking the forgiveness of God, the apostle John wrote, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). This verse teaches us a simple truth – when we sincerely seek God’s forgiveness, he grants us complete and total forgiveness as children of God. We have a divine promise as written by David, For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us (Psalms 103:11-12). What a blessed thought that once we have genuinely sought forgiveness for our sins that God would forgive us of those sins and remove them from us! God is genuine in his offer; there is no malice or ill-intent. God’s grace and forgiveness is unconditional.
When it comes to forgiveness from others, we all carry baggage from the world around us. What we watch for entertainment does not help our world view; movies, television shows, songs, and literature creates characters that claim they accept someone’s apology, yet a few scenes later, they have orchestrated a plan to pay the wrongdoer back. Some are so bold as to claim the “eye for an eye” teachings from the Old Testament as their justification. We’ve all heard the world’s response to forgiveness and the fleshly take on the “golden rule”: Do unto others before they do unto you…” All this excess baggage makes it easy for Satan to confuse us and to place a spiritual stumbling block in front of us. This can actually stop our spiritual growth, rob us of God’s blessings, and hinder our relationship with others. It becomes easy for our minds to entertain thoughts such as “they are only saying that, they don’t really mean it.”
As Christians, when we ask someone for forgiveness, its important to recognize a few of the lessons that can be implied by scripture. Once we have asked for forgiveness our portion of the transaction has been done; we have indicated our sincere desire to be forgiven. When the person we seek forgiveness from tells us that we are forgiven, just as it is with God’s forgiveness, we are to treat that person’s forgiveness as we treat God’s forgiveness through faith. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ (II Corinthians 2:10); this is exactly what forgiveness is and originates. We can forgive others and are in turn, given complete forgiveness because we are to model our lives after Christ. If that person who tells us they forgive us, but in their hearts they still retain the rage or grudge over our offense, then it becomes an issue between them and God; we are to take their apology as being sincere.
There are times that we may experience someone that will not acknowledge our apology. Instead of forgiving us, they may make a sarcastic remark, may be insulting, or may even threaten to “let you see how it feels.” When this does happen, and it will, there are some things we can remember. Again, returning to the writings of the apostle John, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (I John 2:1). At that time, we simply turn to God and ask for his forgiveness; Christ has taken on himself to plead our case before the Father! Regardless of the salvation of the other person, we must remember that at the point we have asked forgiveness, it is now between them and God; consider the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:15). How can one experience the forgiveness of God if they are unwilling to forgive others?
