Forgiveness - Easy To Say...Hard To Do

C.S. Lewis had it right:

"It is made perfectly clear that if we do not forgive we shall not be
forgiven. There are no two ways about it." - from Mere Christianity


There are 125 direct references to forgiveness in the Bible. Almost all of these references have to do with divine forgiveness. Yet the biblical precept is clear: If we are forgiven then we should be forgivers!
Joseph forgave his villainous brothers when he could have settled the score for their evil treatment of him. Esau surprized Jacob when he demonstated forgiveness rather than revenge. In the great Parable of the Prodigal Son, the forgiving father, (symbolic of our heavenly Father), showed human forgiveness that is a picture of God's forgiveness.
Alas there is a tough part to forgiveness: Jesus commands us that we are to forgive a person "seventy times seven." That means that we are to be a people who are forgivers; willing to forgive over and over again.
A few years back Stanford University conducted major research on forgiveness. This "Forgiveness Project" concluded that those who forgive others lead healtier and more fulfilled lives. We Christiuans knew that all along.
Who do you need to forgive?

Shakespeare Wrote It; Christ Lived It.

Here's how Shakespeare waxed poetically about mercy:

The quality of mercy is strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven...
And earthly power does then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. The Merchant of Venice

Old Will described mercy well: Mercy does indeed fall like a refreshing heavenly rain, and when we earthlings show mercy we are reflecting God. The poet described what Jesus of Nazereth lived. Here's what I mean:
When eternal God zipped-on human skin and appeared on earth, He did so in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was mercy personified. Mercy is related to compassion in God's Word, and the best definition of mercy I've come across is "Compassion in action." Indeed Jesus constantly revealed an activated compassion toward society's least worthy and most marginalized - the "down and outs", condemned sinners, oppressed women, the lame, blind, prostitutes and even nefarious tax collectors. As one reads the gospel accounts of this merciful Savior, time after time, from every quarter, come the words; "Have mercy on me!" He never ceased in doing just that....having compassionate mercy on all who called out to Him. He still does today. You need only ask.