The Madness of Unforgiveness: Walking It Out

by David Chadwick

How do we forgive? What does it look like practically to walk this out?

We know that forgiveness is the act of releasing offenders and offenses back to God and receiving his compassion for the pain we experienced.

We also know that forgiveness is a requirement for followers of Jesus.

We know that our source of forgiveness is Jesus and without him, we can’t forgive.

We know that not forgiving can lead to bitterness and slander.

But how do we forgive? How do we become better at walking out forgiveness?

Always remember this one, great, biblical truth: God is perfect justice. No one gets away with anything. If someone has deeply hurt you, God will address it one day.

Because of this, we can confidently release and forgive knowing that God will one day have the last word for every tear we have cried, every pain we have experienced, every hurt that has come our way.

That’s the essence of Romans 12:19. We are not to return evil with evil, but evil with good. We don’t take vengeance in our own hands but leave it to the Lord who does vengeance much better than we do. He alone knows all the facts and he will deal with our pain and situation in a perfectly just way.

God is God. We are not. And as we continually remind ourselves of that truth, we are no longer overtaken by the desperation of vindication.

What if we try to enact justice ourselves? Then God will take his hands off and let us try to do it ourselves. We will quickly learn that it’s an impossible task.

If you want to keep exploring this truth, go to Deuteronomy 32:35, Hebrews 10:30, Psalm 94:1 and Leviticus 19:18.

This concept must be a very important one for us to understand or God wouldn’t have repeated it as many times as he did in his Word!