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The Heart of Forgiveness in Christianity

This document discusses the importance and benefits of forgiveness from a Christian perspective. It argues that forgiveness is not optional for Christians seeking to follow Jesus, who lived and died so that sins may be forgiven. It notes that while forgiving can be difficult, holding onto anger closes one's heart to others and God. The benefits of forgiveness are described as having an open heart to give and receive love, being delivered from old sins, feeling more free and flexible, and having a less disturbed prayer life. The document concludes that forgiveness is a decision of the heart that allows God's love to flow through us, even towards those who hurt us, and has to do with what we want to become rather than what was done to us.

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359 views2 pages

The Heart of Forgiveness in Christianity

This document discusses the importance and benefits of forgiveness from a Christian perspective. It argues that forgiveness is not optional for Christians seeking to follow Jesus, who lived and died so that sins may be forgiven. It notes that while forgiving can be difficult, holding onto anger closes one's heart to others and God. The benefits of forgiveness are described as having an open heart to give and receive love, being delivered from old sins, feeling more free and flexible, and having a less disturbed prayer life. The document concludes that forgiveness is a decision of the heart that allows God's love to flow through us, even towards those who hurt us, and has to do with what we want to become rather than what was done to us.

Uploaded by

nmdl123
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

FORGIVENESS: A DECISION OF THE HEART

By Marilyn Gustin

Both the Mass and the New Testament say that Jesus Christ lived and died “so that sins
might be forgiven” if forgiveness was that important to Jesus, then surely it is not optional for
Christians who seek to follow him.

Of course we all know that, but we find forgiving difficult and feel guilty when we cannot
do it. We feel “I should forgive so-and-so, but I just can’t…” then we dislike ourselves. Let us not
do that. Let’s work toward a better understanding of forgiveness.

Hurt and Healing

Some understand forgiveness as an act that benefits only the person who has wronged us.
This is not entirely true. According to Jesus, we forgive for our own sakes. What we give to
others, He tells us, we will get back from the Father: “If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly father will forgive you” (Matthew 6:14) and “For as you judge, so will you be
judged” (Matthew 7:2).

Jesus also warned those who do not forgive: “Then in anger his master handed him over to
the torturers…So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brothers
from his heart” (Matthew 18:34-35). Who is this torturer? It is our own nature. When we
cannot forgive, anger is kept inside. Kept anger disturbs the body and closes the heart not only
against one person but against everyone and everything. It disables us in our love even for
those near and dear to us. Finally, a heart closed to others is also closed to God. Deep prayer
becomes impossible. As spiritual pilgrims, our refusal to forgive sabotages our journey. To
communicate with God without barriers, we must become like Jesus- and our clearest picture
of Jesus is his forgiveness from the cross.

The benefits of forgiveness are simple but profound. When we forgive, our hearts are open
to give and receive love with others and with God. Injuries are healed as we forgive the one
who wounded us. We are delivered from old sins and we feel more nearly whole. Because we
are no longer rigidly holding back anger, we become more flexible more free. Since we spend
less energy on being mad, we have more zest for living, and our prayer life is no longer
disturbed by resentment.

Thus it is for our growth that we learn to forgive. To the extent that we remain angry, our
spiritual practices fail to bear fruit.
A Decision of the heart

This is not about morality. Most moral theologians agree that anger is natural and we
should not punish ourselves for our feelings. But, as an old Chinese proverb explains, “You can’t
keep a bird from flying over your head. You can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” We
can’t always keep ourselves from feeling anger, but we don’t have to let our anger build a nest
in our heart. Forgiveness means letting go so God’s love can flow into us and through us to
others, even those who hurt us.

The choice to forgive is a decision of the heart that has nothing to do with what has been
done to us and everything to do with what we want to become. When we feel an injustice is so
great that forgiveness cannot be right, we need to recall the crucifixion.

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