Lead With Forgiveness

The Bible has always been clear about the matter of forgiveness. God forgives our sins - under certain conditions (i.e., we profess Christ). And God expects us to forgive each other. In fact, He says if you don't forgive then you yourself won't be forgiven. And it is this forgiveness of God that we pass on to those around us.

How does God's particular brand of forgiveness work? Well, it's a forgiveness that isn't dependent on how sorry the offender is. It doesn't matter who is right or who is wrong. It makes no difference whether the offense was intentional or truly accidental. Why? Because God decided to forgive us before we had committed any sin at all. He decided to lead with forgiveness in His relationship with us. And so Christ-followers are called to do the same.

We don't need all the facts in order to dispense our forgiveness. We don't need to know how much it'll cost to fix my car that you wrecked. We lead with forgiveness. And in turn we are forgiven.