Understanding How Forgiveness Works According to God's Method

It's difficult for me to separate the lesson or positivity of a person from who they are as a person. For example, a former friend once told me he absorbs the negativity around him and holds it in, unlike others who transfer negativity to others once they receive it. From a worldly standpoint, which is how I viewed him, this didn't make sense for me. Why would someone willingly take on negative emotions just to be filled with it?

In relation to Christ, God asks us to give up our burdens to Him and He will carry them. This made sense. God is all-powerful and separate from the human bondage that I am. Certainly a heavy weight for me is nothing for the Creator. What I hadn't been able to put together is how to relate what my friend described into my faith.

In Eucharistic Adoration, Charles M. Murphy explains, "The meaning of redemption and how it works is that we are willing like Christ to absorb the evil that is done to us and thus not add to the quantity of evil in the world."

That, right there, is the spiritual connection my heart and mind have been searching for without me realizing it.

My friend and I did not part ways on positive terms, but he taught me valuable lessons about how to treat others and how to carry ourselves in hardships. My struggle is being able to still take away from these lessons without the pain his memory brings with them, but God has, once again, nudged me directly with this passage. Christ said forgive seventy-times-seven times toward our brothers and sisters, but that redemption and repentance do not always involve us.

Forgiveness is about absorbing the pain that we suffered and even absorbing the pain others suffered without spreading it. Forgiveness is about helping others through their pain knowing that God will help us both to heal. Forgiveness is the healing that Christ provided on the cross.

Just as God takes our burdens from us, so should we take the burdens from those around us. We live in a society where serving others is seen as inferior. This perspective is wrong. We are taught to be obedient to our parents, pious to our elders, respectful to our bosses and instructors, and compassionate to members in our community. These are all forms of service. Society has warped the construct into one that is archaic even though one of the greatest faults of modern society is the fact that no one is willing to help one another, allowing injustice to lead.

Absorb the pain. Forgive the pain. Perhaps if we better understand how forgiveness works, it will lead to more fruitful end results. For me, forgiveness is a word I can define but not one I practice well, but explanations like Murphy's help me to break down the steps and relate them to my spiritual journey.

Heavenly Father, light this world with Your fire. Forgive us our sins, heal our hearts, and join us together as one family. In Jesus' name, Amen.