Forgive as God Has Forgiven

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

This verse came to life for me a few months ago in my job as a teacher. I had experienced a difficult first part of the week regarding my students’ behavior. I was discouraged by the way they were treating one another and the disrespect they showed toward us as adults. 

After these challenging couple of days, I drove to my school on Thursday morning. I knew the only place to turn for comfort and direction was to my Lord, so I prayed. As I prayed, the Lord reminded me how much I have been forgiven and challenged me to forgive my students, even when I am disappointed in their behavior. 

If you are a child of God, you have been forgiven much. Philippians 3:18–19 tells us that many people “walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” This is who we were before Jesus. We were not just slipping and sliding in sin, but we were the very enemies of the cross of Christ that has brought our salvation. We served ourselves and set our minds on the things of earth, not Heaven. 

However, that is not who we are now. God in Christ forgave us! Therefore, we are now citizens of Heaven, “and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). He has saved us from the destruction we deserve and freed us from the false gods we previously served. Therefore, since we have been forgiven much, we must also forgive others. 

At times, I am disappointed in my students’ behavior. When they intentionally break the rules, when they hurt one of their classmates, or when they use harsh words that cut deep, it hurts me, as their teacher, to see them making these decisions. 

However, I do not hold this against them. I have to make the choice to forgive them, recognizing that we all make mistakes. Additionally, if I am to reflect Christ to my students, I should forgive them while still holding them to a high standard. 

The same is true of us, as God’s children. He holds us to a high standard; however, He also meets us with mercy. He does not give us what we deserve, for He loves us and has forgiven us in Christ. 

When others hurt us and we forgive them, let us remember that this pales in comparison to the forgiveness God shows us as sinners. We cannot fully comprehend God’s forgiveness. It is all-encompassing. Though He is grieved by our wrongdoing, He still forgives us through the cross of Christ, which we were once enemies of. 

When we forgive, we display the gospel and the character of Christ in our lives. Will we choose to forgive others—whoever they are and whatever they have done—because God has forgiven us?