The righteous Lord is in her; he does no wrong. He applies his justice morning by morning; he does not fail at dawn, yet the one who does wrong knows no shame. —Zephaniah 3:5
When the Bible teaches us to forgive those who sin against us, it doesn’t minimize the seriousness of their sin or suggest that what they have done is okay. Nor does it suggest we should enable the person to keep sinning or relieve them of the consequences.
Take, for example, abusive situations, criminal activities, and unethical things you may know concerning people at work. It’s not wrong (and may be necessary) to report someone, to turn guilty offenders over to the appropriate authorities who can hold them accountable, to be part of helping them face the reality of what they’ve done.
But if your heart in doing so is bitter or vengeful, then you’re still holding on to the controls. Even if you manage to bring the offender to justice, you won’t experience the freedom God offers. In reality, you’re keeping yourself imprisoned by your offender. Freedom comes when you release them to God.
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Choosing Forgiveness: Moving from Hurt to Hope
©2022 Revived Hearts Foundation
Scripture taken from The CSB
Make it Personal
How has refusing to forgive someone impacted your life? How can releasing them to God bring freedom?