Empathy is a necessary element in forgiveness and understanding for without it forgiveness is a favor that gains no understanding.
Romans 12:15
In a sense, forgiveness is a selfish act.
What?
Let me explain… Feelings of anger, hatred, and resentment will wreak havoc on your spirit. When they’re present, they find a way to weave themselves into many different areas of your life – unrelated to the thing that caused them. It’s like a cancer of the spirit.
In that sense, you want to get rid of it – for you.
Like any other cancer, it’s not easy to do. The first step in its treatment is to understand that forgiveness is more than words.
You can’t simply say, “I forgive you.” and expect true forgiveness to happen. In order to achieve true forgiveness – the kind that frees you from the bondage of negative emotions, you must try to place yourself in the position of the person that wronged you and seek to understand their motives.
That doesn’t mean that you have to condone their actions but rather it’s an act intended for your benefit. You’re empathizing with that person when you try to understand – which sometimes won’t come easy.
On the other hand, if you only use words and don’t seek understanding, you’re really doing the other person a “favor” as an obligation – which isn’t forgiveness at all.
In today’s Tiny Words. Big Life. Bible verse, the Apostle Paul describes things that Christians should do to live a life that pleases God. Among those are the words that we should empathize with those who rejoice as well as those that mourn.
Why?
Because empathizing with someone allows you to feel the things they’re feeling. When you do this, your spirit responds with a more truthful outpouring of love making you more capable of rejoicing and mourning.
The same goes for forgiveness.
A key tenet of Christianity is God’s grace to forgive us for our sins through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who He sent to live as one of us and to die on the cross. As Jesus lived, He felt the things that we feel… pain, hurt, happiness, and sadness. He was fully human, yet He was fully God.
In a way that only God’s perfect plan can imagine, God empathizes with us, through His Son, Jesus Christ. When God forgives us, our sin is cast as far as the East is from the West. In other words, God doesn’t hold on to His divine and righteous anger. He releases it completely and we are truly forgiven.
The Tiny Words. Big Life. takeaway is this: Pray to be released from the anger and/or hatred you feel when someone has wronged you. Do this before you seek to forgive them. If sought earnestly, God will free you from the gripping bondage of resentment.
And remember, when your goal is to purify your spirit through God’s grace, it’s not being selfish at all. It is to the glory of God. Amen.
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
You preachin’ here! 🙌🏼