Forgiveness Article Review

Hey girls,
This is a journal article review I wrote for one of my classes. The article was on forgiveness so I thought some of you might want to read it. So, I'll warn you it's a bit lengthy but I wanted to make it available for you all.

A Review of Pursuing and Granting Forgiveness: An Article from the Journal of Biblical Counseling

Forgiveness is a topic that most people do not like to talk about it. For some reason we would rather stay embittered, angry and miserable instead of offering forgiveness to those who have sinned against us. It is an area in our lives in which we neglect because of pride that takes root in our lives. We fail to realize that we indeed are sinners ourselves and are constantly in need of forgiveness in the state of sin that we live. It states in Romans 3:23, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God has offered the perfect example of forgiveness through Jesus for us to follow. I have chosen to review an article authored by Timothy S. Lane entitled “Pursuing and Granting Forgiveness”. It is an article that I believe is a must read for those who wish to learn and be obedient to the biblical view of forgiveness and practice it in their daily lives.

In this article, Lane begins by given us two examples of where forgiveness is required. The two characters he uses are Mary and Ben. Mary is a wife and mother who struggles with forgiving her husband for his betrayal and unfaithfulness to her through having sexual relationships with prostitutes. Though Mary found out about the unfaithfulness of her husband ten years ago, she continues to hold onto a heart of bitterness and un-forgiveness. There had been times when Mary had thought she had forgiven her husband and yet those memories and hurts continue to come back and she continues to harbor them in her heart instead of releasing them to God.

The other character example given in this article is Ben. Ben’s struggle lies in the hurt of favoritism. He struggles with forgiving his parents for their act of favoritism towards his sister. He has now let those roots of bitterness dwell in his heart for twenty years which has led him to the point that he has forfeited a sound, loving, and godly relationship with his parents. Not only has he allowed his un-forgiveness to affect his relationship with his parents, he has taken his unforgiving heart and has allowed it to penetrate into his relationship with his wife.
I think regardless of our own personal circumstances, we can identify with both Mary and Ben in that we have a battle for our hearts that rages. The sin that began in the Garden of Eden is sin that is still rampant in this world, and it causes us to recognize that we all have been sinned against and we have all sinned against others at some point in our lives. We tend to think that we are doing ourselves a favor by harboring un-forgiveness in our hearts and yet we are doing the exact opposite. We are being disobedient to the Lord; furthermore we are sabotaging our relationships with others and we are choosing to live our lives in such a way that does not reflect that of Christ.

In the article, “Pursuing and Granting Forgiveness,” Lane continues on by defining what forgiveness is. The passage of scripture that we look at is Matthew 18:21-35, which is the parable of the unmerciful servant. We look at this biblical example in reflection of our relationship with God. As Lane points out, forgiveness is the act of canceling that which is owed. It is the act of recognizing that there is a debt but stamping it with a ‘paid’ stamp. It is acknowledging the debt but refusing to hold it against the person who incurred the debt. He goes on by stating three promises of forgiveness which state that you will not bring up the offense, you will not make the offense known to others in the form of gossip, and you will not dwell on the offense. I believe this third piece is important as it relates to modern psychology and their view of “healing”. I think of the girl who has been sexually abused and is dealing with the memories of her molestation or rape. Modern psychology would have you to believe that you need to somehow process those memories of the past by dwelling on them and talking about them. God’s Word says differently. Instead of allowing our minds to constantly mull over the sin acts imposed on us, we need to take action by forgiving the offender. Mulling over the sins of others leaves us stagnant and bitter but choosing daily to forgive moves us toward peace and righteousness. This leads me to another observation by Lane as he states, “forgiveness is not forgetting”. The biblical view of forgiveness is God’s example of forgiveness towards us. In Jeremiah 31:34 it states that God will “remember our sins no more”. It is pointed out that not remembering is different than forgetting. When God forgives us he does not forget our sin but simply chooses to remember the promises that he has made with us. He remembers the cross, the debt that was paid and as a result pours out mercy and grace through Christ into our lives.

Furthermore, this article answers the question of how to practice forgiveness. What is it that God expects from us? Does forgiveness mean that we are to put our guard down and we allow ourselves to continue to be hurt by the same person over and over again? Lane is quick to point out that forgiveness is not an act of lessening the impact of sin in and on our lives. Sin is a serious matter and we are not to deal with it lightly or flippantly. However, we are still called to love the sinner, but love wisely. For example, if our safety is in danger, it is probably best to distance ourselves from the offender but our heart attitude must continue on in the attitude of love and forgiveness toward the offender. Our desire should continue to be reconciliation.

Lastly, Lane goes on to answer the questions of “Why don’t we forgive and what will motivate us to forgive?” Firstly, he makes it clear that in order for us to have the desire to forgive we must realize that we have been forgiven ourselves. We must come to terms with our own sin and realize that the depth of God’s forgiveness for us goes far beyond the forgiveness that we might offer to someone who has sinned against us. When we truly begin to understand our own sin and how it has damaged our relationship with God and see how much more He has forgiven us, that is when we will be willing to forgive those who have sinned against us. Let’s ask the question again, “why don’t we forgive?” Lane points out three reasons for our lack of forgiveness. Firstly, we do not believe that we need to be forgiven. We fail to see that we too are sinners saved by grace and that God’s mercy is poured out to us each and every day. When sinned against, it is so easy to be so focused on the sins of others that we fail to see our own. Secondly, we do not forgive because we don’t see ourselves as forgivable. If we do not recognize that God is able to bring out about forgiveness and pour out his mercy in our sinful lives, we will not see that forgiveness of others that have sinned against us is possible. Thirdly, we do not forgive because we fail to see the joy that forgiveness brings. We have forgotten what it was like when we first realized that God had forgiven us and the excitement and joy that brought us. We have forgotten that our lives are a testimony of God’s grace and forgiveness.

I chose this article for review simply because it is a topic that so many struggle with, including myself. It is so easy for us to see the sins of others and yet fail to see our own. We think that we have it all together but then when we open our eyes and see Jesus crucified as a result of our sin we see forgiveness in its truest form. When we take the blinders off our eyes we begin to see that the offender is a sinner just like ourselves and indeed we too have offended God Almighty with our own sinful lives. We forget that God looks on us with grace and mercy and if we call ourselves followers of Christ, we too must look on others with the grace and mercy that God has poured out on us.


Bibliography info...

Lane, Timothy S. “Pursuing and Granting Forgiveness.” Journal of Biblical Counseling 23, no. 2 [Spring 2005]:52-59.