Forgiveness

I've been thinking a lot lately about forgiveness.

I've come to believe that despite what I've been taught, orgiveness is not simply a choice; it's a lot bigger than that. Forgiveness is an act of redemption and redemption requires sacrifice. It will inevitably cost something -- and sometimes it will cost a lot.

Jesus that those who are forgiven much love much, but those forgiven little love little. For those who have always been "good people," it is harder recognize the real cost of redemption. Those who've been to the bottom and had begun digging know very well what it took to buy them back, to make them free.

But the truth of it is that we are none of us that "good" and all redemption comes at a high price. We have no excuse, then, to "love little."

As Christians, we are called to forgive just as God, through Christ, forgives us. According to 1 John, this is a continual process, the blood continually cleanses us. And every day we are called to choose to forgive, and to do so to the same extent that Christ forgives us. We, too, are called to die -- to ourselves, to the world, to our own feelings of hurt and anger and our desire for revenge or "justice" as we see it. Having within us the mind of Christ and living as he would calls us to desire the redemption and ultimate salvation of even those who've hurt us most. We are expected to desire the eternal presence in heaven of even those whom we never want to see again on this earth. I know for me, that takes more than just a decision. It takes a full realization of the price of this sacrifice. We don't just redeem our friends; we pay the highest price to redeem our enemies.

It's hard, but God never exempted anyone from obligation just because it was hard.