Why is forgiveness so hard? It’s difficult enough to just say the words, even harder to actually internalize them in your heart. We want to wallow in our anger and lick our wounds like a dog, wanting all the world to acknowledge the injustice done and have vindication happen swiftly and publicly on a Hollywood- sized billboard.
Life seldom cooperates though, does it? More often than not, we seem to be presented with the same offenses- forgive, pray, repeat; fanning our anger and resentment to a frenzied peak. It’s hard to forgive when justice seems to be a gem of the rarest magnitude, only flashing its brilliance on the lucky few, never you- right?
The reality is that justice is something we all deserve, but really shouldn’t want. If justice was served, you, me, and everyone else who ever walked this wild and crazy planet would be wiped out, demolished, blotto. You see, that is the result and cost of sin- death; and we all carry that curse. So, by demanding justice, we’re not just pointing the finger at our offender, we’re demanding our own retribution as well.
Do you ever wonder if Jesus desired justice as he was mocked, humiliated, and hung on the cross? In reality, He completely redefined justice by submitting to death on a cross as retribution for the sins of the world. The only man to ever walk the face of the planet that didn’t deserve death as a consequence of sin because He didn’t sin, was the one who bore the punishment for it. Rather than justice being served on the sins of humanity, He accepted the price of the sins of His own creation. Is that fair? Hardly. Rather than allow the cost of sin (death) to be delivered to the deserving (humanity), He made the only sacrifice vast and valuable enough to atone for a world consumed with sin- the death of the universal Creator’s Son, Jesus Christ. Justice was made obsolete and replaced with the ultimate offering of love.
Only the love of our Creator is big and monumental enough to rewrite the definition of the word justice in the universal dictionary of creation and replace it with the definition of forgiveness. The forgiveness of a God who “So loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) Want justice? No thank you, I’ll take forgiveness in the form of Jesus instead. It’s not fair, thank goodness, and thanks to God.
A Peace of Humble Pie 