Piggybacking on Beau’s post yesterday, I thought:
As Christians, what right is it of ours for God to forgive us? I’m not referring to his making good on His promise. Even still, that is a gift He offers us, and it’s not a requirement we accept it. I’m addressing our mindset.
Put another way, when you’re about three quarters of the way through forgiving someone “seventy times seven”–when you’re on serious count-down, when you’re thinking nobody deserves this many passes, think about yourself. Not in the sense you’ve been doing, but in the sense that God thinks of you. You are that other person. And not to add insult to injury, but you can only see that other person’s outward behavior when you make a judgement.
God sees all of yours.
How do we go from that. From what the Bible clearly teaches. To opening our prayers to God with a shopping list of wants and needs and “me’s.” I know, everybody’s heard this before, but yet time and again our focus is still on us. The reason God offers us the opportunity for Him to fulfill His promise is because He wants our communication, not our monologue.
So, yes, He promises to forgive us if we ask for it, but it’s not something we were created with an inherent right to. Just the same way you feel the drudge of continually forgiving that person, remind yourself next time that you are everybit that person.
Thoughts.
Ciao.
Joe.