We
all commit mistakes in life, to the point of sometimes hurting other people
unjustly. When we realize this, after asking God for forgiveness, we should
also ask the people affected for forgiveness, and offer to repair the damage
caused the best we can, if it can be repaired.
ASKING FOR
FORGIVENESS
Asking
others for forgiveness is a duty, not an option, to be carried out as soon as we
realize our wrongdoing.
This
is as important as to ask God for forgiveness.
When
we hurt someone, it is not only an evil act done to another fellow human being,
but it is also a fault against God. They both need to know we are sorry and
that we are determined to compensate for the damage we have caused.
WHEN SOMEONE
DOES NOT WANT TO FORGIVE YOU
However,
in certain circumstances, the hurt we caused will be traumatic and hard to
forgive by many, specially if they are not believers. These people are themselves
so far away from God, that their nature is hardened, becoming implacable and
unforgiving.
Anger
and desire for revenge will consume them, and will not be able to accept
apologies or to forgive, but only the pursuit of satisfaction, emotional and
material, their own way, which usually will be by inflicting the same o more pain
on the one who initially wrong them.
People
like that, will not accept your plea for forgiveness.
Jesus
said:
“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember
that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the
altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your
gift.”
Matthew 5:23-24
When
Lord Jesus said that, He was referring to the repentance of the listener. It
does not speak of the reaction of the one you are going to ask forgiveness
from.
Jesus
implies that once you come and ask for forgiveness, that person will accept
your apologies and forgive you. The
unforgiving type is not taken into account because he has an independent will
from yours and a personal responsibility before God to forgive you.
If he does not, HE IS AT FAULT, NOT YOU.
FORGIVING IS
A DUTY, NOT AN OPTION
The
human duty to forgive others is rooted in the fact that everyone is a sinner,
and we all need God’s forgiveness before everyone else.
Lord
Jesus was clear, that a person should be forgiving, and if not, he will suffer
the consequences of his hardened heart. At
the time of personal judgement, he will encounter God equally unforgiving and
that will be a terrible outcome.
“But if you
do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew
6:15
CONCLUSION
Everyone
sins. We all sin.
When
we honestly and with repentant heart go and ask another person to forgive us;
God has seen that attitude, and counted it on your favour.
If
the one you are asking forgiveness from, chooses not to forgive you, that is
not your fault. You are forgiven.
Once
you have confessed and asked God for forgiveness; and you have done what is in
your part to ask for forgiveness and repair somehow the best you can for the
loss you caused; It is done, it is forgiven.
Because
ultimately, forgiveness is not based on a human saying Yes or No. It is based
on the Atonement of Jesus Christ on the Cross for all humanity. It is based on
Jesus’s blood and pain.
Omar
Flores
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