God wants us to know of His forgiveness more
than anything else. Why? Because GodŐs forgiveness for mankind is the greatest
love that mankind will ever know. It is so great that God constantly wants to
heal us and forgive us of all our sins.
God is all loving, all kind,
all-merciful, and he wants us to show this same mercy to others, so we can draw
others closer to Him. GodŐs nature is one of pure love for His people, so that
everything he does is out of love for us and for the good of our souls. God
wants us also to be forgiving and kind to one another, so that we can
communicate His love and desires to one another for Him.
In the Bible, Jesus taught His disciples
that they must constantly forgive their enemies, even if it meant an infinite
number of times. We see evidence of this in the Gospel of St. Luke. Jesus said,
ŇTake heed to yourselves; if your
brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents,
forgive him; and if he sins against
you seven times in the day, and turns to you
seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you
must forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4)
Jesus
is stating here the necessity to forgive our brothers and sisters, no matter
how many times they offend us. Why is this necessary? God the Father wants us
to live in harmony and peace of mind, so that the devil cannot enter into our
lives and bring destruction, and because Jesus wants us to enjoy eternal life
with Him and the Father.
Not
only does God want us to forgive one another, but He also wants us to forget
all the past offenses that people have committed against us. We have been
taught that forgiveness is a decision of the will, but it becomes even more
powerful and complete when we pray for the supernatural strength to FORGET as
well. Jesus not only forgives our sins each time we come to Him in the
confessional, but He also forgets them. We therefore must choose to forget our own past mistakes
and those of others, if we want to progress in the spiritual life with Jesus
and enjoy the fruits of His forgiveness.
If
you are having a hard time forgiving someone because of past painful memories,
I invite you to do two things. The first thing you can do is to send your
guardian angel to the other personŐs angel, to help clear out any blockages
that would impede reconciliation. The other is to pray to the Lord to help you
forgive and to also forget the other personŐs offense. A good way to do this is
by praying the following short prayer or one similar. Insert the personŐs name
that you wish to pray for in the blank spaces.
O
Lord, please help me to forgive _____________, for the sins he/she has committed
against me. Help me to no longer remember these offenses
anymore. Help me to
love ___________ as my brother/sister.
Please help me to be reconciled to him/her. Thank you, Lord for helping me to
forgive ___________and to forget all past painful memories.
The
devil will use past painful memories, as small video recordings in our mind, to
keep us locked in the bondage of unforgiveness. Therefore, there are some times
in our life when it is actually helpful to be forgetful, especially when it
involves negative circumstances. We should make a conscious effort not to dwell
on past painful memories. Each time a past hurt comes to mind, we should refuse
to entertain it. Instead we should pray a quick prayer or even a Hail Mary for
the other person.
For example, the above prayer is not long and can be said at any
time. When it is prayed from the heart, it becomes very pleasing to God. Jesus
knows that past painful memories are the devilŐs tool for keeping us locked in
bondage and unforgiveness. But when we pray this prayer of forgiveness, we
release the devilŐs hold on us, and we invite the merciful love of God to dwell
within us.
Forgiveness
is very important to God and brings about inner healing in our lives. When
Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father, he emphasized the need to
petition the Father for forgiveness, and He instructed them of the necessity to
forgive others in the same manner that the Father forgives us. In part of the
LordŐs prayer, in Matthew 6: 11-13, Jesus says:
Give us today our daily bread; and
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
What does this mean? Jesus said that we
should ask the Father for forgiveness for ourselves, and in return, we should
promise to be forgiving of our neighbor. While in prayer, Jesus also explained
in more detail what these words meant in part of the message below.
Give us this day our daily bread, enjoins unto you, all good things of
my Father's
mercy for you. It feeds you daily on my love and desires of the
Father. Man does not
live by bread alone, but by every good desire of my heart for you. The Eucharist is
my body and blood, which contains every desire of the Father
for you. Forgive us
our trespasses, allows you the freedom to find forgiveness in me. As we
forgive those
who trespass against us shows me your desire to lead a life
crucified and holy,
pleasing to the Father. Lead us not into temptation, enables you to serve me and my
Father with clean hands and heart. Deliver us from every
evil, shows that
you are
willing to trust in my love for you and obey the Father's
command to cherish and
respect the dignity and quality of human life.Ó
To live a life crucified and holy is not
easy. It requires that we imitate JesusŐ example on the cross. JesusŐ arms were
opened wide on the cross, so that he might embrace the sinner. When we go to
Him, we can always be assured of His forgiveness through His open arms of
mercy. When we pray, ŇForgive us our trespassesÓ, we are asking pardon from Jesus,
knowing that God will forgive our sins if we are truly sorry. IsnŐt it
wonderful to know that Jesus will never turn away from us, no matter how great
our sins are?
If Jesus truly dwells in us, then we must
also show others the same forgiveness as Jesus continually shows us. This is
how we live a life, crucified and holy, and pleasing to the Father. Crucified
because we are truly
dying to flesh and living a life in the Spirit. Holy because we are doing GodŐs will and
following GodŐs command to love one another. If we live this type of life, we
are truly showing that GodŐs presence dwells among us through the power of the
Holy Spirit. But if we deny others the forgiveness they deserve, we are
abandoning GodŐs will for us and instead inviting evil to dwell within.