What Forgiveness Really Looks Like

So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20

Every time I read the story of the prodigal son I am struck by the response of the father. It stands out in such stark contrast to the depravity of the younger son and the harsh judgment of the older son. The younger son is not even hoping for this gracious response of his father. He is ready and willing to accept the role of a slave. He knows his sin and the just consequences of it all. The reception he expected was demonstrated in his brother’s reaction not his fathers. How often do we as God’s sons and daughters hesitate to receive the very things our Father stands ready to offer us because of self condemnation, a feeling of unworthiness, and the inability to grasp how loving, merciful, and tender God really is? While Scripture is full of examples of God’s true character, why is it we so often struggle to grasp it during times we need to see it the most?

I find in the area of forgiveness I am sometimes limited by my own past experiences and the reactions I received from significant people. When are we going to understand that our reaction to a repentant person is going to do much to shape their view of how God will react? Too often a person’s brokenness over their sinful condition is not deemed as sufficient for them to have learned their lesson. It is almost as if people stand back and say, “That isn’t enough.” Or they have the proud outlook of, “I have never done that and you shouldn’t have either.” It is the modern day Scarlet Letter that demands others walk in shame and regret rather than celebrating radical forgiveness.

Maybe it is time for each one of us to take a good hard look at God’s way of forgiveness as seen in this verse. It is a forgiveness some of us are not use to, a forgiveness some of us are not showing toward others, and a forgiveness that is still foreign to us. When we finally do experience this for ourselves we will be ready to show it to others.

Father, sometimes I feel like the prodigal son and sometimes I feel like his older brother. May I see this side of You and when I do may it forever change the approach I take with my own sin as well as with the sins of others. Amen.