Forgiveness is our “out.”
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says The Lord.” Rom.12:19
Bathsheba had a great guy. Her husband was a man’s man, an esteemed warrior in The King’s army, no doubt well built, strong, and dashing with courage. He was a man of outstanding character, responsible, trustworthy, an example of faithfulness and loyalty. He was the kind of guy every girl dreams of finding, and according to Nathan’s illustration, he absolutely cherished her. The beautiful young couple was looking forward to a wonderful life together.
The murder of her man, the defiling of her innocence, and the ruin of her dreams made up an enormous debt owed to her by the perpetrator. God’s answer for this, tear up the IOU, hand the debt to me, let go of it, allow Me to handle it.
That’s not fair! It’s not even right. Letting the perpetrator off the hook seems even more unjust than the offense itself. But forgiveness doesn’t let your offender off the hook. It just lets him off “your” hook. The wonderful thing about forgiveness is, it’s what gets the one “offended” off the hook.
For the victim, the hook is the inner torment that comes from being wronged. Vengeance can combust your insides.
Forgiveness is not letting the offender go, it’s letting yourself go from the offender who will continue to possess a stake in your soul until the loss is resolved. We forgive for our own sake as much as anything. The offense is multiplied if you allow it to consume you further by unresolved resentment. Don’t allow the poison of bitterness into your system.
Fairness
As for the fairness part, it’s by forgiving someone that God’s hand is released to fulfill His promise, “I will repay.” Clearly, this applies to that IOU. Payback is executed upon the perpetrator of the debt but also upon the unpaid balance as well. Look forward to it.
God is more concerned with injustices than we are. This world is His jurisdiction. We, in particular, are His cherished children. He rises for us like a mother bear for her cubs. If we will let Him.
Once you release all “payback” to God, ” leave room for vengeance, ” the responsibility of dealing with the wrong as well as the compensation for the loss is fully transferred to Him. That’s the two-part power in forgiveness. But the most important part is, you’re off the hook.