Forgiveness: The New Normal
When on October 2, 2006, a gunman shot ten girls at the West Nickle Mines Amish school, killing five, before killing himself, people around the U.S. wondered how the Amish community could respond so quickly with forgiveness. Not only did the Amish publicly declare that they had forgiven the man, but they demonstrated it by attending his funeral and visiting his family members, who were deeply grieved by his actions. One Amish man reportedly held the shooter’s father in his arms for more than an hour as he cried. This response stunned the world. They couldn’t understand it and even debated whether it was OK to forgive someone who hadn’t shown remorse.
We often think of forgiveness as hard—maybe even unattainable at times. Yet Jesus flipped the narrative on forgiveness, presenting it as not just possible, but actually normal for his followers.
In Luke 17, when Jesus taught his disciples about forgiveness, he challenged them to operate in unlimited forgiveness. In response, the disciples said, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5 NIV). Such radical forgiveness seemed impossible. They felt their own lack so strongly that—for the only time recorded in scripture—they asked Jesus to give them more faith.
This phrase, “Increase our faith,” is often quoted out of context, but it’s important for us to remember that it was in response to the call to forgive, which is the cornerstone of the gospel, that the disciples cried out for more faith.
In response to his disciples’ cry for more faith, Jesus told them, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (Luke 17:6 NIV). Jesus said—no matter how great the offense—all we need in order to forgive is a small bit of faith.
(In my blog, “Why Forgiveness Matters,” I talk about the meaning of the mulberry tree and why forgiveness is so crucial for our lives.)
And at the end of his earthly life, Jesus fully answered that cry for more faith through the ultimate act of forgiveness. On the cross, Jesus died and rose again to not only forgive our sins, but to also empower us to live a lifestyle of faith. A lifestyle in which forgiveness is not just possible, but normal.
Because of what Jesus did, we have the faith needed to forgive.
When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:22-23). I don’t think it’s accidental that immediately after Jesus breathed on the disciples for the infilling of the Spirit he then told them they now have the power to forgive just as he does.
Forgiveness is central to the gospel. It is part of our inheritance in Christ—not just forgiveness for our sins, but the grace to forgive others.
What we so often forget is that forgiveness is now part of who we are as children of God. We are not just forgiven. We are redeemed. We now have Christ’s new nature living within us, and we have the mind of Christ. When we received his nature and became new creations, we became forgivers (see 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:20–24; Col 3:1–4). In Christ, the lifestyle of forgiveness is not just possible, but normal (see Col. 2:12-14). We see this clearly in Paul’s instructions to the Colossians:
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Col. 3:12-14).
God wants us to live holy lives—as evidenced by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love—because he has chosen and redeemed us, thereby making this lifestyle not just possible, but normal.
God is the great forgiver, and as his children, we mirror his nature by becoming forgivers. Forgiveness is not a foreign principle. It is now our normal or natural response. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but it does mean we are wired and equipped to do it. The question is not whether we can, but whether we will. As Paul said above, we must clothe ourselves with forgiveness (see Col. 3:12); we must make the choice.
As a new creation in Christ, you are designed to forgive. It is not an impossible task. God has wired the ability to forgive into your DNA. In fact, it is now who you are.
(In another blog, “What Forgiveness Isn’t,” I talk about the distinction between forgiveness and things like trust and reconciliation, that have too often been conflated with forgiveness.)
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