Luke 6:37-38 - Forgive and Give

Jesus is telling them to love their enemies, do good to those who hate them, bless those who curse them, and pray for those who spitefully use them. When someone hits them on the face, don’t hit back but turn their cheek and allow them to hit them again. When someone demands their coat, give them their shirt also, give to anyone who asks, and when things are taken away from them, don’t fight or sue them to get them back. (vv. 27-38)   Basically, Jesus is teaching us, that true happiness and blessedness in life does not come from our circumstances, from people, from things, or even from ourselves (our success, our achievements, or even our good deeds), but it comes from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is only by His grace, and by the control and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we can have the attitude and heart to do the things Jesus is describing above.   Jesus concludes this section in verses 37-38 by saying, “judge not, condemn not, forgive and give. Four things that sum up the attitude we should have toward people who offend, hurt, and abuse us. Two things we should not do and then two things we should do. Two negatives, don’t, don’t, and then two positives, do, do! Now these days we have been programed to dislike negative preaching in our churches and only want to hear the positive. But if we follow and study the Bible and God’s way we must respond to the negative first.   This reminds me of the Ten Commandments, that are the basics of the Moral Law of God for our lives. The first three are negative: No other gods, no idols or images, no misuse or blasphemy of God’s name. Then two positives: Keep the sabbath, honor your parents. Then five negatives: don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, and don’t covet. The negatives are needed to remind us that we are guilty of breaking God’s law and His ways and pave the way for us to trust Him for mercy, grace, and forgiveness, and then for the strength and wisdom to do what we should do to please Him.   So, after the two negatives, don’t judge, don’t condemn, Jesus says to forgive and give. How do you know if you really have forgiven someone for their offence or abuse of you? (By the way, this does not mean that you don’t hold them accountable for their actions. You report their abuse to the proper authorities and remove yourself from them and from further abuse.) At the same time, in your heart, and in your attitude, you turn it over to the Lord, and you also pray for God to deal with them by convicting them of their sin. You pray for their salvation.   When in your heart you forgive others for the hurt they have caused you, it will be evidenced by how you “give” them your prayers. True forgiveness is evidence of God’s love at work in our hearts that allows us to be free to give. One of the most powerful illustrations of this kind of love and forgiveness is the story of Corrie Ten Boom. In September 1944, the Nazis deported Corrie and her sister, Betsie ten Boom to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women in Germany.   Life at Ravensbrück was almost unbearable, as they were abused. But Betsie and Corrie spent their time sharing Jesus’ love with their fellow prisoners.  Because of mistreatment Betsie died in Ravensbrück on 16th December 1944, aged 59. The last words she had spoken to Corrie before she died, were, “You must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still. They will listen to us Corrie, because we have been here.”   After the war, Corrie Ten Boom learned how to forgive those who had caused her so much pain and suffering. Please take the time to go the blogs on my website to read the rest of Corrie’s story and also a great article I found on forgiveness. What Forgiveness is and what it is not. https://www.pmiministries.org/post/corrie-ten-boon-and-forgiveness God bless!