"The Gospel frees us to forgive. When we are witness to the forgiveness that Christ has for us, our hearts should be turned to forgive others in the same manner. Though each of our sins is a sin against the Lord, only a small portion of each persons sin is sin against us. Through both experiencing and reasoning through the gospel, our hearts are shaped to forgive.
At the end of the study, each guy wrote a Letter of Forgiveness to a person who had hurt them greatly. I got the idea from a few counselor-friends who use the technique in situations of abuse or conflict. In order to tie everything back to the gospel and give the men in my bible study an idea of what to write, I constructed an example Letter of Forgiveness. However, this one was as if God were writing to us. I've copied and pasted the letter below. I hope you like it!
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My Sons,
Before you were even born, I knew everything about you. I
knew which sports you would like (if any). I knew which subjects in school you
would enjoy most. I knew all of your little quirks and kinks. I couldn’t wait
to form you.
I watched you grow, so little, so curious, and so afraid. Your
body was so small and so delicate. I protected you and cared for you, gave you
a mother and a father to love you.
But even in your innocence, you left me.
You ignored me and instead turned to other things to feel
protection and love. You chose them over me.
You thought me boring, a chore. You were ashamed of me. You
spoke my name with disgust. You rejected me and looked away from me. You heart
became hard and cold against me. You separated yourself from me. You became my
enemy.
You turned my creation against me, perverting things of
purity and beauty into objects of pain and sin. You attacked others whom I love
with your words and actions. You lived for your own good and allowed others to
suffer at your expense. You allowed corruption, perversion, death, and pain…
you allowed sin into my world.
You deserve death. In fact, you have chosen it. Do you not
know who I am? Do you not see who you have been messing with? Against whom your
sin has been this whole time? I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am your Creator
and Heavenly Father. I am the Righteousness Lord. I AM.
With every act of pride, trickery, hate, lust, and abuse, my
nature burns for justice. But also within my nature, my heart breaks.
For even when you hated me, even when you fought me as an
enemy, you will still my creation, and I still desired for you to be my son.
So I made a deal long, long ago. I promised a way for your
debt to be cancelled. I promised a way to restore a relationship with you.
“Instead of taking out justice on you, I will take it out on
my Son, Jesus Christ,” I said. Is it fair for him? Is that fair for you? Is
that fair for me? No. But along with my Son, I sacrifice my right to what I
deserve, so that you will not receive what you deserve either. So don’t worry.
All that death and pain you brought upon yourself? Jesus experienced it for
you.
I forgive you.
It is only because of Jesus Christ that I am able to do
this. In Him, I am able to forgive you for your sins committed against me and
offer a restored relationship. In Him, you can experience the gifts of my mercy
and grace.
I want to offer you one last opportunity. I want to offer
you the chance to return to me. I want to offer you a renewed and restored
relationship. I want to call you my son once again. If you accept, you can
trust that I will never leave you, that I will always provide for you, that I
will protect you, that I will bless you, that I will work ever circumstance of
your life out for your good, and that we will spend the rest of eternity
together.
I cannot wait. I have so much planned for you and I. You’re
going to love it.
I have loved, do love, and will love you for the rest of
eternity.
Your Father.
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