Our Hope: Forgiving The Small Things

“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more,” says the Lord.  Hebrews 8:12 (NIV)

We walk through our lives fighting the good fight.  We do all we can to follow the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ request that we forgive others of any and all infractions against us, and those we care about.  Yet do we really do this?  Do we forgive even the small things?

If we stop and take stock, we may be surprised.  Yes, we may remember when we forgave a great big sin, a hurt perpetrated against us.  We know we have forgiven spouses and family members for hurtful remarks, or when there is a major disagreement, or other such things.  We may even have forgiven a true betrayal, one that has left some scars inside, which makes us leery of trusting again.  But still we have forgiven.

But what about the small things?  Those are things like a little white lie.  Or how about someone forgetting an event that was really important to us?  It could even be something as simple as a small secret we entrusted with someone close to us, which was told to another.

These are still hurts, wounds to our souls, no matter that they are very small.  And we often forget to forgive them.  We may think in our minds that we have, but in reality we have not spoken of them to Jesus, and we have not addressed them with the other person(s).  In fact, the other parties may not even be aware that their actions have become our issues.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  Ephesians 4:32

When we have not completely forgiven and let go of even a small infraction, resentment and anger will kindle.  That little area of our hearts, and our memory, will harbor ill will, and what we consider to be matter of no real importance will one day show itself in full-blown anger. These feelings will also, at some point, affect our relationships, and may even cause us to back away from a person we love without understanding why.

Jesus is Our Hope.  He went to the cross so that we would see His forgiveness of our sins.  He taught His disciples and the people what sin is and the importance of true forgiveness.  Without total forgiveness, of all that is perceived as sin against us, our hearts will never be totally ready to freely love others without reservation, without fear.  If we want to love as Jesus loves, to see people as He sees them, we must empty our hearts to Him, asking His forgiveness for not truly forgiving those who have trespassed against us, even in the small things.

“Jesus said, ‘When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.’ ”  Mark 11:25

How to you determine what an infraction against you is, and what do you do about it, to achieve complete forgiveness towards the person involved?  Please leave a comment here or go to www.mystoryofgrace.com and allow us to share with you what God has done!

Blessings!