A clean sheet 

The new year is a good time for a clean sheet. Not just on our beds but in our spiritual lives. It’s good to ask God if there is anything from the previous year that needs to be left behind or washed away by God before we can move on.

God has often made sure I have forgiven those who have sinned against me before I move on. It’s very important to God that we forgive others as he has forgiven us (The Lord’s Prayer, Luke 11:4) and in Christ we are forgiven everything since he took the punishment for our sins on the cross.

Some things God has taught me about forgiveness over the years:

We are to forgive even when it is not asked for. Stephen demonstrates this as he was being stoned to death for his faith in Acts 7. Our closure, healing and ability to move on does not depend on an apology from those who hurt us.

Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. We can forgive someone who has harmed us, but we do not have to have a relationship with them if there is a risk of them harming us again.

Forgiveness does not negate justice either by society, or by God. Romans 12:19 says “do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord”. When we forgive someone we release them into God’s hands for him to act justly.

Forgiveness is hard and we need God to help us by his Spirit. One of my heroines of the faith is Corrie Ten Boom. In her book ‘The Hiding Place’ she describes in 1947 giving a talk at a church in Munich about forgiveness. After the talk a guard from Ravensbrück concentration camp (where and her sister had been held captive during the war) approached her. Her sister Betsie had died a painful death in Ravensbrück due to the cruel treatment of the Nazis. The guard did not remember Corrie but asked for her forgiveness for the cruel things he had done in Ravensbrück. As the guard stretched out his hand asking for forgiveness, Corrie described her heart as cold. She silently cried out to Jesus for help and stretched out her hand to the guard. As she did so, warmth flooded into her arm and into her heart.

Corrie said in that talk that unforgiveness leads to bitterness. I have found this to be true. Unforgiveness poisons us and causes us to become bitter, revengeful and stuck, unable to move on with our lives.

Lord help us start the year with a clean sheet and forgive others as you have forgiven us.