Forgiveness

"So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I BEG you to reaffirm your love for him."

-Paul, 2 Corinthians 2:7,8 (ESV)

(I was greatly moved when I have read this for the first time so I am sharing it. )

Whenever we sin to God, He does not condemn us. He does not want us to be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow because of condemnation or shame or self-pity. He does not want us to feel depressed and hopeless because of the sin that we did. He desires to forgive us, and Jesus' sacrifice is the proof.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

-1 John 1:9

We are sure that we are always forgiven whenever we ask God sincerely for it. But what about when our brother sins against us? Do we respond to him like God will?

I remember our pastor assuring us that we will, someday, offend a brother or be offended by a brother in a church. Even I have already experienced that. And God wants us to respond to this kind of situation in a way He does.

 "So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him,..." -2 Corinthians 2:7

"For you were angry with me, your anger turned away that you might comfort me." - Isaiah 12:1

We are not just to forgive, but also to comfort the one who has offended us. Obviously, this is so because the love of God in Christ encourages us not to focus on what the disease is, or what caused the disease, but on how to heal the sick. Do we want our brother to be depressed? to feel hopeless? We are not to condemn, or to resent, or to make any further damage to anyone. We are to forgive even the unforgivable, just us God forgives us in Christ. 

Our confidence to be forgiven by God should also be the confidence of our brother to be forgiven by us.

So I BEG you, whoever he is, whenever there is, to reaffirm your love for him as Christ does to you.