Have you ever forgiven someone? Has someone ever forgiven you? I suspect the answer to both of these is YES. Forgiveness is the "intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, and overcomes negative emotions such as resentment and vengeance." There are a couple key words in or missing from this definition. First, this definition is missing the sadness. Forgiveness does not eliminate sadness; it eliminates resentment and vengeance. There can still be feelings of sadness after offering forgiveness and that's okay. The other key words IN the definition are "intentional" and "voluntary". Forgiveness does not usually just come upon someone...it is an intentional and voluntary act. Forgiveness is a choice!
According to an article put out by hopkinsmedicine.org, your very health is dependent on whether or not you choose to forgive. Per the article, unforgiveness can lead to heart attack, poor sleep, and higher levels of pain, blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and stress. Forgiveness, on the other hand, calms stress levels, which in turn, eases the other symptoms. The article goes on to say, “It is an active process in which you make a conscious decision to let go of negative feelings whether the person deserves it or not,”From a science standpoint we can see that forgiveness is good and necessary. Right in line with the thinking of science is what God has to say about forgiveness. It is good and necessary. There are many verses in the Bible that deal with forgiveness. All throughout the Old Testament, God continually forgives the nation of Israel for things they do against His will. He is constantly giving second (and sometimes third, fourth, fifth) chances. God often declares His sadness at the misdoings of Israel, but there is never a time He refuses to forgive them. If our family or children acted out against us as often as the nation of Israel did against God, we may be tempted to reach a point where we just can not forgive anymore, but God does not reach that point. The people of Israel always see the error of their ways and ask for mercy from God and He always intentionally and voluntarily gives it.
The New Testament talks about forgiveness as well, but in the NT the focus seems a little different. In the NT, we are introduced to Jesus, God's Son. He is still a part of the Godhead but has come to live on earth. Jesus tells us that God wants us to live forever in heaven with them, but because of Adam and Eve and the choices they made, it is impossible as only perfect people can live in heaven and we all know, no one on this present earth is perfect. We ALL sin, or do bad things, in one way or another. Some SEEM to have worse sins than others, but to God, all sins carry the same weight. A sin is a sin is a sin! These sins keep us from being perfect and keep us from gaining entrance to heaven. God decided that the only way to solve this problem was for someone who WAS perfect to bridge the gap for us. God sent Jesus, as the perfect one, to make this happen. Jesus intentionally and voluntarily took the punishment for our bad things dying not only physically, but also going into Hell to overcome our punishment after our death. Additionally, Jesus forgave us even before we were born. Some of His last words on the cross were, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Most believe He was talking specifically about those who put Him on the cross, but He was likely also talking about ALL of those people in past and to come and the bad things they would do.
