Mathetes

Forgiveness is one of the most unnatural and difficult things anyone can do, and the difficulty is proportional to the real or imagined size of the offense.  I say that it is unnatural because the natural person lives as though there is no God, at least not functionally.  Unless God has done a work in a person's heart to reveal His grace to them (and their need for it), the most natural thing in the world is for a person to say, "No, I won't let it go.  I won't forgive that person.  They did something that is too awful and has made my life something I didn't want."  The natural person is all about this life.  They are all about their form of justice.  They do not believe that God will ever make things right.  They do not believe that God permitted it for a reason.  They only see that what they wanted that was taken or lost. It matters not how illogical unforgiveness is.  You can explain how unforgiveness doesn't truly restore anything th...

In the suffering and death of Christ on the cross, we have three loud voices spoken to our hurts.  First, we have a voice that understands what it is to suffer.  He was rejected unfairly.  He was the object of ridicule and whispers behind the back.  He was betrayed.  He suffered an agonizing death.  He identifies with our hurt, and, as those who belong to Him, we identify with His.  Some only want to stop at this, however, and therefore don't find what it takes to heal.  They want to be affirmed, validated (which, depending on the wound, can be understandable) but not to move on and change.   Second, there is a loud voice that proclaims from the cross, "This was required for YOU."  The cross of Christ is the public indictment of our sinfulness.  We see that we also *cause* hurts, even out of the hurts we've received.  We see that we also transgress against God and neighbor.  We need forgiveness, too.  In this way...