Jesus had a lot to say about forgiveness, which can be summed up in three words “we must forgive”. The reason? The reason is that if Almighty God is willing out of love, to forgive us for every wrong thing that we have done, or will ever do, (which He is) who are we to not forgive other people?

You may be thinking at this point about people who have had something terrible done to them or a member of their family, something that many might describe as ‘unforgivable’. Does God expect them to forgive too? The answer is that He does, but that forgiving does not mean excusing or condoning what has been done.

The Bible doesn’t say that forgiveness is easy, in fact, the very fact that Jesus taught quite a few times that we should forgive, indicates that He knew that it wasn’t easy, but that it is important. Our loving God is ready and able to help us to do things that are humanly impossible, including forgiving others. He knows the damage that can be done by not forgiving.

We can probably all think of people who have born a grudge for many years against someone who did something really bad to them. Many of us know of families split apart, sometimes for generations because of something that happened years ago. We may know of people who have become bitter and twisted and vengeful, never forgetting what was done to them, reliving it constantly and forever torturing themselves over it, unable to move on, the rest of their lives ruined. The Bible tells us for our own good in Ephesians 4 verse 31 to: ”Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behaviour.”

Contrast this with a person like Gordon Wilson who was thrown into the limelight when he publicly and famously forgave the IRA terrorists who had planted the bomb that killed his daughter. After this, great good came from his life, he became well known as a peace campaigner, and he set up a charity to help young people in his troubled country. Gordon Wilson was able to forgive, with God’s help.