Prayer Without Love is a Myth

“. . forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you.” Col 3:13

If you were to ask 100 staff at a Christian social working mission for a study topic for their spiritual edification what response do you think you would get. I asked this question and the answer was surprising. The majority desired a study on the topic of “forgiveness”. Recently, the need to master this subject was brought home again when I heard of a pastor who had been involved with pastoral counseling for 20 years and remarked that, according to his observation, 90 percent of all problems are rooted in unforgiveness. The personal devastation of harboring unforgiveness is so toxic is it any wonder that Jesus pounded the message of forgiveness home with vivid emphasis.

Jesus suffered terribly from words and deeds that sought to destroy His character. His response teaches us how to respond to suffering. To excel in handling suffering is to learn to forgive as Christ taught us. It is inevitable that we are going to get hurt, the question is how will we respond. When the apostle Peter suggested that we forgive seven times he did not give a bad answer but Jesus ramped it up even higher by correcting him and making it “seven times seven”. This was like saying we are to forgive indefinitely times indefinitely. A tall order, but Jesus made the consequences for failure equally extreme.

Jesus taught (Matt 18:34,35) that failure to forgive would mean torture or severe punishment! The main point: the kingdom of God is a matter of forgiveness. Jesus underlines this point in His blood and we will be judged on how we who have received this blood-wrought forgiveness practice it. Seems extreme, was Jesus exaggerating maybe? Well, turning to Matt 6:14:15 we see Jesus choosing to expound on only one area of the teaching he has just delivered via the Lord’s Prayer. Again, He picks up on the necessity of forgiveness by reiterating: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”. It is that important.

I will continue this important subject next week but I hope you have been reminded of the necessity to practice Christ-like forgiveness. One might be lead to say that the hardest part of being a Christian is forgiving but it is central because the spirit of forgiveness is the spirit of love. Suffering and forbearing love energizes prayer.