jump

There is an all-encompassing peace for those who have believed in Jesus Christ, because He made atonement for sin with His death on the cross. His resurrection completes that peace, giving believers the hope of life filled with purpose and never-ending that is beyond death. But the pilgrims' progress can be impeded when circumstances arise that complicate one key element for accessing that atonement: forgiveness.

What can you do when someone has offended you, truly, and the offense is on-going? How can you live in a state of perpetual forgiveness of someone perpetually transgressing against you? This question was put to me recently by someone I consider a shining example of Christian virtue. How many of us struggle with the same question? 

When you are in the middle of something, it really can be hard to see the forest for the trees. Our equanimity fails us, even though, intuitively we know the answer. It is as simple as an overly used Christian cliche-let go and let God. But simply giving it over feels impossible, key word here being "feel." So, how do we come to that point? It is, undoubtedly, a matter of understanding and mastering our emotion.

We feel the offense, the smoldering anger, the victimization, the injustice of it. These emotions put us in a highly defensive posture mentally, moving us away from the possibility of forgiveness into the treachorous slopes of vengeance. But either is a choice we make, with or without our emotion. This is the challenge. Forgiveness is a CHOICE, a decision, like love, or getting up and going to work in the morning.

If I decided to skydive, I am fearful just mentioning the possibility. Though my emotions would be strong, if I had decided to do it, my emotions would lose the fight. I would climb into an airplane, strap on a chute someone else had packed, and stand, shaking, at the door. A gutteral man-scream would crescendo, my determination killing off the last of my trepidation, and decrescendo into terminal velocity.  And I would be doing it. I would be skydiving.

Forgiveness is a choice followers of Christ have to make. Even though we may be swallowed up in the emotion of the on-going offense, we have to let go of it, and move toward Christ's perspective of the offender. We have to jump, trusting God for the grace to interact with the person, as we would have to trust the packer of our chute. We have to jump out of our strongly justified emotions, even fight our carnal tendency for condemnation to the death, and we have to free-fall through God's amazing grace. We have to trust Christ, Who represents a perfectly packed and operating chute, to bring us safely to solid ground.

I hope I am never in the position of having to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. But, daily I struggle with emotions associated with the issue of forgiveness. And I can only trust in the One Who leaped from His secure place in Heaven to ensure we do not slam into damnation after soaring through the air of our days. Forgiveness is the ignitor of a passion for righteousness inside us that will lead us to life more abundantly (more exhilarating than skydiving) on this earth, and the promise of endless peace and purpose. God gives it freely to each one who dares to... forgive!

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven."  -Jesus Christ (Luke 6.37)