Learning to Forgive

Genesis 3:8-10
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Why do we struggle with this so much? Forgiveness! A friend of mine asked me a question yesterday that involved this chapter of the Bible. She had brought to my attention that God forgave them and clothed them when they left the garden. Absolutely! This is one of the first acts of forgiveness in the Bible.

Did you notice that God pursued them? That's right. God was the one who was wronged and He was the one who pursued. Our society today teaches us that if someone does you wrong that it's not your fault. Let them come to you, because they are the ones at fault. Like kids on a playground... "I ain't apologizing to him/her, she is the one who pushed me off the swing." What if we could learn to forgive like God? Notice the word "learn".

Learning to forgive is what we need. It will not just happen or appear one day out of the clear blue sky. Yes, when we are saved by Christ Jesus we understand how to love and also understand the greatest forgiveness that there is, but how to do it is a different story. How to perform that forgiveness is a lot easier talked about than put into action.

We say, "They wronged me, let them come to me and apologize." But can't you see God saying in our scripture this morning, "They have wronged me and disobeyed me, I must go unto them and confront them in order to offer my forgiveness." Why would He do that? It's His Love! It's His Grace! It's His Characteristic" It's Him!!!!! Lord help me to LEARN to forgive. Teach me to forgive in the same manner you taught your disciples to pray.