Forgiveness: Why Wait?
“Do you plan to stay mad at him forever?” That was what I heard Jesus ask me through his Spirit.
“Good question” I thought. If I plan to stay mad at him forever, and never, ever forgive him then it makes sense to stay mad at him now. But if I already know that someday I will forgive him and get over it then why wait? If I already know I’m going to forgive him in the future then why not forgive him now, get it over with, and be able to experience a good relationship now?
Forgiveness is a major part of our Adoption. In the process of adopting humanity into his life through Jesus the Father forgave us for our hatred and anger towards him. Now the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives to enable us to receive that forgiveness and extend it into our relationships with one another.
To receive forgiveness and give it to others we have to have hope in the future. Because we know that someday every tear will be wiped away, and all sorrow and pain and death will be destroyed, we can begin to experience that life right now. Because we have hope about humanity’s future in Jesus we can begin to forgive one another now. Because of Jesus we know that we aren’t going to stay mad at one another forever so we might as well go ahead and start the forgiveness process now.
~ Jonathan Stepp
Trinity and Humanity 
Hi Jonathan
Forgiveness: Why Wait? What a great post! I would like to share this with members of the congregation who don’t have access to the internet (or even PCs. Do you mind if I include it in our local congregational newsletter?
Kind Regards
Ian Woodley
GCI Nottingham (UK)
Thanks, Ian, I appreciate your encouraging words! By all means, please feel free to print it and give it to others, all I ask is that you keep my name attached to it and reference the fact that it came from the Trinity and Humanity blog.
Similar to my blog post on repentance. Why wait? You cannot plan to do something you know in your heart can be done right now! If you think about forgiveness or repentance, then chances are, you already have that option within you right now. Either way, you get a lot of junk and weight off of your mind and heart and live free.
http://boydmerrimanchristianity.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-think-ill-go-and-repent.html
Boyd
Hi Boyd,
Just finished reading your post – very well said! Thanks for sharing the link to it, we are definitely thinking along the same lines: completely Christ-centered definition of everything. Keep up the good blogging work!