I Must Forgive; Do I Have To Trust?

I must forgive; do I have to trust?

Is anything harder than forgiving? When we have to deal with the tough issues of life, forgiveness stands near the top of the list. C. S. Lewis said something like this: Everyone says that forgiveness is a lovely thing until they have something to forgive.

When you’ve been hurt and taken advantage of forgiveness is not what you want to do. We forgive not because it’s easy or because we want to, but because Christ lives in us. When we trusted Christ, we signed up for the Christ life, a life of forgiveness and restoration.

Forgiveness is bestowed because Christ is in us and we are in Him. Because I live “in Christ” (Paul’s favorite term to describe what it means to be a Christian), I must choose to forgive and restore those who have failed. Forgiveness is not an option. As God has forgiven me, I must also forgive. Not to forgive cuts me off from the forgiveness of God. For this reason, I want to forgive.

What about trust? Where does it fit?  Is trust the same as forgiveness? Am I commanded to trust?

Trust is different than forgiveness. Forgiveness is bestowed because of Christ within us. Trust is quite different. Trust is gained when we live and act in a trustworthy manner.

Hosea forgave his unfaithful wife. He even received her back into the marriage. As God forgave Israel for its unfaithfulness, Hosea forgave Gomer.

But Hosea did not simply give trust; he demanded it. He bought his wife off the auction block and took her into his home. He told her that she would no longer play the prostitute and that there would be a period when they would not live as husband and wife. Hosea wanted time for real restoration to take place. In other words, he demanded that she earn trust by her faithfulness and dependability.

Living in Christ is to live mercifully, compassionately, and with forgiveness. It is not to live naively. Hosea called for his wife to act as a real wife by being faithful and trustworthy.

Let me give you an example that we can all understand. We accept thieves and embezzlers to our worship services. That is compassion, kindness, and forgiveness, but we will not turn our tithes and offerings over to someone who has stolen. That kind of trust has to be demonstrated by doing trustworthy things over a long period of time.

Forgiveness can be given immediately; trust takes time to prove that repentance and godly sorrow have also taken place.

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