Forgiveness   It has been said in scriptures we are to ‘forgive 7 times 70’, or in spiritual language, no matter what happens to us, we are to always forgive the perpetrator. It is not an easy thing to let the desire to hate or for retribution go. Such feelings are natural and have had much access to one’s life.   Though these characteristics are only natural to the un-regenerated man. The believer has a new way of doing things, a new way of thinking which must fall in line with what God and Jesus teach through the Bible. Even though not all believers have been able to overcome their sinful nature and resort to the old ways, they must be cautious for the unbeliever is not using sophistication when they witness what a believer does. They do not allow believers to make many mistakes (unless they know the person) and they do not think about how a believer is under spiritual attack from the evil one nor do they care.   What they care about is the response that the believer made and that is what makes the initial impression. Even after the believer has corrected themselves and apologized for their reaction, it is not always enough to overcome what took place. But that is a word of caution and not the thrust of this article. Forgiveness does need to be done no matter what was done to the believer. God has said if we ‘do not forgive then neither will He’. Believers do not have much room to play with on this matter, it is a vital aspect of the Christian life for we are to freely give what we have freely received. God has freely forgiven and He expects, no commands , that we do the same for those who have done wrong to us.    If one notices how the scripture is written, you will notice that this is not a graduated scale. Complete forgiveness must be given no matter how large, how gross, how severe the act was done to the injured party. For those caught in the web of the holocaust the requirement to forgive is still there and it must be complete. Whether the offending person is alive or not, forgiveness must be granted. Or how will one receive forgiveness for their own sins?   If one looks at the passages of scripture they will also note that no violation was left out. If one wants to lead a productive life for Christ then they must realize and practice that the command to forgive all sins committed against them. Which means to women that wife or girlfriend beaters /abusers must forgive those men or fathers who violated their personal safety, both physically and psychologically if they want to have a life that is healed and fulfilling.   There is no room to over-rule God on this matter. People must come to grips with the fact that God is the one in charge of the Christian life and what He says He wants done must be done. Though the believer has time to make adjustments in their lives to come to grips with the emotional and psychological changes that come from obedience to God, they still need to make such changes if they want to receive from God that which they desire. The believer is the follower of God and though the proves or method is not that desirable in human terms, we do not think like God nor do we know the whole picture and are limited to obeying by faith trusting that God knows what He is doing as we implement His commands.   In life there is a bigger picture than what we can see with our human eyes and understanding. Paul mentions this when he wrote about not see clearly. God sees it all and He knows what he wants to accomplish through certain acts, since He does not need our permission to do such things we must then look to his words to give us the strength to follow until we get the results He desires. Then, and only then, will we understand clearly why we had to do such actions but until that time we must be obedient to the instructions God has given so that he may work in the hearts of those who do not believe.   Since the believer belongs to the kingdom of God, they must realize that the rules they are under are not the same ones as the secular person. Changes must be made in the thinking, human understanding must be replaced by the spiritual and so on. The world understands differently than the believer and since the believer is the only experience with God that they may have, then the believer must let the changing work of Christ be complete so that the un-saved may be able to see the difference between their standards and practices and God’s.   The believer does not represent themselves, they represent God and His ways and if the follower of Christ does not practice what God has said, then why should the unbeliever change? Doing the same thing as the world does not motivate the non-believer to seek Christ, but showing the world the difference Christ makes does. Thus practicing forgiveness the way God says makes more of an impact on the un-churched than does maintaining a human understanding of the word. God’s ways are not the world’s nor are the ours, we must remember that as we live in this world.   The world is watching and when we fail to follow God’s teachings then the world takes note. O.J. Simpson may be guilty but we weren’t there thus we cannot accuse or ostracize him like the world does but extend the love and forgiveness of Christ to him as Jesus did to the thief on the cross and to Zaccheus.