When someone else hurts us or offends us our first inclination is to repay them somehow for what they have done. The most common way of satisfying this inclination is by trying to turn others against them. We tell others what they have done and try to make other people as angry with them as we are. We try to tarnish their reputation and undermine them. Overall, the endeavour here is to make them suffer some consequences for what they have done. We often feel that we have a right to these courses of action because of what was done to us. But if you are a Christian, by choosing to follow Christ, you have chosen a different path. You have chosen the way of grace. Natural law says, the one who has sinned must pay for their sin. But the law of grace changes this. Grace says, “You have sinned against me, but I choose to bear the consequences of your sin. I alone will reap the evil that you have inflicted upon me.” This is the grace that Christ extended to us. Having benefitted from that grace we now are now obliged to extend this to others. We must bear the sins of others as Christ did. It is not that we make atonement for the sins of others, for only Christ could do that. And, of course, I am not denying the place of civil and criminal justice. This is about your individual relationships. You can stop the cycle of retaliation by choosing to absorb offense and repay kindness. Sounds tough, doesn’t it? But that’s the way of Christ.
Who do you need to forgive?
Read and reflect on Romans 12:17-21
