Its easy to fall into one of the oldest traps used by Satan against the children of God – the trap of guilt. We all have experienced it whether it be because of something wrong we have said or done to another, problems dealing with our besetting sins, or breaking a promise to others or God. Guilt can be a good thing if it brings us to a point of true repentance, as written and described by the apostle Paul: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death (II Corinthians 7:10).
Godly sorrow, or guilt, will not let us rest until we have not only asked forgiveness of the person we have wronged, but when we seek the forgiveness of God also. There’s a familiar verse that I have heard ever since I first began going to church: Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him (Luke 17:3). Instead of focusing on the person that was wronged, I want to look at the person that is considered as the “offender.” As Christians, when someone has told us that we have done something that has caused them to become offended, we have an obligation to seek genuine forgiveness. As Christians, we represent the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do; it should cause us to experience guilt – or godly sorrow – to know that something we have done has caused someone else become genuinely offended.
Within the same passage, the next verse simply states: And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him (Luke 17:4), we can learn several things from this one scripture – we have an obligation to seek forgiveness each time we do something we know offends another. I once heard a preacher at a camp meeting in southeastern Texas say that too many Christians sin “retail” but want to seek forgiveness “wholesale” and unfortunately, often when we seek forgiveness of others, we have the same mentality. This passage in Luke makes it clear – if I have offended someone three times, then I should seek their forgiveness three times; I cannot get by and have “godly sorrow” and forgiveness if I take short cuts. I must seek forgiveness for each time I have offended God or anyone else. By seeking forgiveness for each time, it makes us more aware of our actions, of our responsibilities, and our need to rely on Christ Jesus for his guidance.
The apostle Paul wrote, To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ (II Corinthians 2:10) and again, if we focus on the person being forgiven, once we have sought forgiveness with the person we have offended, and they have accepted our heartfelt apology, then we are indeed forgiven by them and should no longer feel guilt about what we did. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by a person about what I thought they should do because they were not sure if the person that “forgave” them did so because they truly accepted the apology or because they were just “going through the motions.” This is something we all have experienced at some point in our lives – and if you haven’t, don’t worry, you eventually will.
