F.O.R.G.I.V.E

Friday nights for me are usually spent surrounded by kids. I teach bible at my church's youth night.  Usually these kids have me on my toes as they want answers supported by the bible.  This Friday, our topic was about Forgiving.  It is a topic that seems to have no end.  I find that repeating the truth of forgive and forget God's way is beneficial to all.

So I asked them what they think Forgive means.  I got answers like this:

To forget it.  To give someone a chance to say sorry and then you can be friends again (emphasis on the apology).  To not think about something anymore.  To say sorry to someone else and more.

When presented with a scenario, not one single person was able to say they could forgive the wrong doer.  I asked them if they found out that someone had told the entire school that they were "ugly" which resulted in other kids sending face book name calling, tweets and other terrible insults would they forgive the person.  No-one said yes. For everyone, there was a list of deeds that were "forgivable" and "unforgivable".

However, while I may agree that we do feel that way sometimes, I had to highlight the lie in that way of thinking.  Clearly, the bible does not say that we are allowed to pick the offences against us that we forgive.  The truth, whether we believe or not, is that we have to forgive.  We forgive whether or not the offender is apologetic/sorry.  We forgive even when the deed against us is horrific. We forgive even when we our self still hurt and show fresh bruises. We forgive because God says we ought to and that is the final, blaring truth. We forgive so that we also may receive the Father's forgiveness as well.

By now, some of you are choking on this and perhaps your thoughts run along these lines "You don't know what has been done to me."  You are right. I don't.  But because I know the truth, I can say with bold assertion, it doesn't matter the situation - you are called to by God to forgive.

I told my class and I will tell you, to forgive is to rid yourself of a poison that if allowed to stay, will eventually destroy you. That will also destroy relationships with others, cause you to be sick and promotes evil. Lastly, unforgiveness separates you from God's provision and is a one way ticket to Hell. 

While this may be a lot to ingest, let me leave you with this acronym from my students (4 - 15y/o):

F   - Forget about it

O  - Old, it's in the past

R  - Respect the person and others

G  - Go on. Keep moving ahead.

I   - Ice the pain with prayer and include the person

V - Vent it out to God

E  - Enjoy life, dont get trapped in the bitterness of unforgiveness.