I was speaking with a pastor friend of mine the other day and I asked him this question: “For the Believer the willingness or unwillingness to forgive, is that a sign of spiritual maturity?”
Forgiveness is a discipline, not a feeling. We must be disciplined that when we consider the offense that we are not driven by emotion, but the choice that comes from the knowledge of the truth of God’s forgiveness, that in Christ, He has forgiven us all our sin. The past, the present, and the future. So that when we say we are born again by the Spirit of God and yet withhold the very grace that He has given to us we are immature babes in Christ. I know some who would argue that your inability or your unwillingness to forgive would mean that you are not truly born again.
We are to strive to live Christ-like every day of our lives, not when we feel like it. Our obedience to Christ is not perfect by any means - hence the forgiveness by Christ for us. “Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.” Colossians 3:13 - this is not a suggestion, and maybe that is the root of the problem. So many Christians treat God’s Word as a suggestion not as actual commands to live by. I’m not joking here, try being a pastor and preaching The Word only to hear the opposite of what you just preached. Here is what I mean: I preached a message years ago from Philippians 2:14 “Do everything without grumbling and complaining…” and right after the service in the foyer a man comes up to me and compliments me on the message and then grumbles and complains about others in the church. All in a span of 4 seconds. Seriously…
We do not take God’s Word seriously, and in doing so we do not forgive seriously because if we did then the church would be a whole lot better with mature believers focused on doing the work of Christ. When we stay caught up in our emotions and avoid the commands of Christ to love and forgive then we wallow in the mud pit of immaturity and end up like the Corinthian church.
-collaborated with J. Tippins