Question: Christ tells us to love one another as he loved us. How can we love people like that if they hurt us, how do we bring ourselves to forgive people that do us so badly? When every time you see that person, it just hurts inside of you?
Tim: Cindy, all I can really do is give you the example of Christ. They hurt Christ. They pressed thorns on His brow. They scourged Him. They put spikes through His hands and His feet. They hung Him on a cross. They crucified Him. And in the midst of all that, He said, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” He wept over the very city that would call for His crucifixion. Those who would spit on Him. Those who would smite Him and strike Him. And I always think of Mark 10:21. You’ve got the rich, young ruler. He rejected Christ. It says, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Incredible words. Jesus loved Him.
You say, well yeah, Jesus loves His children. Jesus loves those that believe in Him. This guy rejected Him. It says He loved him. Cindy, the greatest thing you can do is just contemplate Christ. Not just how other people wronged Christ and He had compassion on them, but Cindy, how you have wronged Christ. The fact is that no matter what anybody has done to you, what you have done to God and what you have done to Christ is far worse. We need to remember the parable. Do you guys remember the parable that deals with this? What is it? Matthew 18? The unmerciful servant. If Christ has forgiven you this massive, untold debt, and you cannot forgive your fellow man, some small thing that he has done to you, then you’ll not be forgiven. That’s what Scripture says. And that’s how it’s likened. God forgives us a massive debt. And what others have done to us is but a small one. Are we going to stiffen up and refuse to forgive others when God has forgiven us so much?
