The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.”

—Matthew 6:15

Forgiveness is hard. We all have people who have hurt us and never shown remorse. It’s difficult to work up forgiveness for those people, but Jesus doesn’t make it optional. 

Matthew 18:23–35 gives the parable of the servant who was forgiven a great debt by the king, then went out and threw a man in jail for owing him something ridiculously small in comparison.

So how do we forgive when we don’t feel like forgiving? The same way we love when we don’t feel like loving—by choice, in obedience.

As resentments resurface again in our memory, we make the intentional choice to forgive them repeatedly—seventy times seven times if needed—more than we could ever count. We whisper a prayer bringing even our difficulty to the Lord: “I forgive; help my unforgiveness.”

And instead of allowing new bitterness to take root, we use those thoughts as prompts for prayer. It’s difficult to remain in unforgiveness while we’re praying for our enemies (Matthew 5:44). We are called to love them, and that means praying they receive the same mercy Christ has given us. 

If we cannot wish that for them, we do not yet understand the depths to which God has forgiven us.

Our feelings may follow our obedience, but even where they do not, we give our hurt to Christ, take the offence to the cross, and leave it there once again.

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