Wellness Blog
by Rev. Alan Shaw
I read Rev. Okai’s Wellness blog last week and, as a Christian Conciliator, my first thought was “why didn’t I think of that”. It is a great summary of how unforgiveness is a health hazard with actual physical tolls to the body (elevated blood pressure, weakened immune…well, you can click here to read his article).
This week, I wanted to keep the “forgiveness” theme going, especially after considering our Epistle reading from Hebrews a couple weeks ago. We are to “…lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” How do we run with endurance? By laying aside every weight that holds us down. Horse jockeys, whether they are male or female jockeys, weigh between 108-114 pounds. Why? Because the lighter the jockey is, the faster the horse can run. (Side note: I will never be asked to jockey a horse). The more weight we shed from our body, the easier we can move around, keeping up with our hectic schedules. And every time we release the weight of sin through confession, the better we face the race that is set before us with endurance.
Forgiveness requires serious effort, but it is exactly what Christ did for us. It is what He expects from us when others come with issues affecting their health and wellness, asking us for forgiveness. We are not to take shortcuts for forgiveness. Our fitness trainers wouldn’t allow us to shortcut our workout and so we shouldn’t offer accept a substitute for true forgiveness. Here are some false substitutes (shortcuts) for forgiveness that we often hear, and may be tempted to say, when someone asks for forgiveness:
- Excusing: “That’s OK. No problem. Don’t worry about it”. (For the wages of sin is death…(Rom 6:23a). Sin is serious and so is forgiveness. Imagine if God said “that’s OK” after we confessed).
- Punishing: “You deserve my judgment and punishment for what you did to me”. (Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven…” (Luke 6:23)).
- Earning: “I won’t forgive you until you earn it” (…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23b). We can’t earn God’s forgiveness, and we shouldn’t expect others to earn ours).
- Recalling: “I will never let you forget what you did!” (…For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”. (Jer 31:34). This isn’t “forgive and forget”, but we may need to (from Rev. Okai again) “Release daily– Forgiveness is often a process, not a one-time event. Keep releasing the offense whenever it resurfaces”.
The correct response is “I forgive you”. This is most certainly true.
Rev Alan Shaw is an Assistant Pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cary, NC. He is a retired Army officer and serves as a resource for the SED and LCMS with Christian Conciliation training, workshops, and reconciliation cases. He can be reached at alan@restoringharmonyllc.com.