The nuts and bolts of forgiveness

Last week – May 8th – was Teacher Appreciation Day.  It is a wonderful thing that we have a day to honor teachers.  They deserve to be recognized and appreciated.  They have a tough job with little fanfare or gratitude.  As I thought about that special day, it dawned on me that there are teachers who don’t teach in a classroom; they teach at a pulpit on Sunday mornings.  Pastors are teachers too, and they should be acknowledged for what they do.

In light of this, I wanted to present the words of a pastor from days gone by to you.  Dr. Rick Ferguson was a commendable pastor in Colorado; he unexpectedly passed away at the young age of 46, in 2002.  I am fortunate to have in my collection a sermon he preached on forgiveness back in the 90’s.  As you may have seen from my title today, I’ve taken the liberty of calling Dr. Ferguson’s words “The nuts and bolts of forgiveness”.  Without further ado, here they are:
 

“As surely as I’m standing here, I know that I speaking to some of you…who have been victimized and traumatized and for me to try to understand your pain, it would be foolish, because I’ve not been through the pain that you’ve felt.  The crimes that have been committed against you are horrendous.  But I still want to say to you the truth of the Word of God: it’s a sin to be unwilling to forgive your offender or offenders…you’ll continue to be the victim, and you will never be free from the crisis that crushed you until you forgive the person who did it.

Some of you are struggling with [the question of], ‘How do I forgive?’  Let me tell you, forgiveness is, first of all, an act of the will, not of the emotions.  You won’t feel like forgiving someone that’s offended you.  In fact, the more you let your emotions drive you, the less you’ll feel like it, the angrier and more hostile you’ll become.

Once you say you forgive them, you probably won’t feel like you’ve really forgiven them.  But you have to reckon it to be so.  That’s not just a Missouri word, that’s a Bible word.  Reckon it to be so; count it to be so; remind yourself that it’s so.  You’ll have to continually remind yourself, ‘That debt is secured; that debt is finished; that debt is closed.  I’ve forgiven that person they no longer owe me.’

You’re saying, ‘How long will it take before I start to feel like I’ve forgiven them?’  I don’t know.  That usually depends on how long you’ve held on to that root of bitterness.  Remember what I told you earlier?  The longer you hold on to it, the more deeply embedded it becomes.  But I’m telling you, my friend, if you’ll exercise an act of the will, and the power of the Spirit of God…it won’t be long before the emotions come along.  What you’ve declared rightfully so in your will, soon will be a true reality in your heart and emotions.”

Let me conclude with my two cents worth.  I have practiced the concepts presented today numerous times in my life.  I can attest to you that Pastor Rick is absolutely right.  My custom is to actually pray a prayer of forgiveness (I find this helps me to drive a stake down on my decision).  I pray to the Lord and tell Him that I am choosing forgiveness towards the person who hurt me.  It does take some time, but eventually my emotions follow my decision.  It is my hope and prayer that if you have been in bondage to unforgiveness, the Lord will use the words of this faithful man of God from the past to set you free today.

Kevin