Dwight Fletcher | To err is human, to forgive is divine - Part I

Jamaicans are known for having a proverb for everything! It's such a part of our culture that people think quite a number of these proverbs or sayings are based on biblical principles. One such proverb is God helps those who help themselves. Last week, we looked at this pseudo-scripture as part of our new theme, Who Tell Yuh Dat? The Lies We Believe. We were able to see how believing this lie can hinder someone from seeking God's help and lead them away from God.

Today, we continue with another popular saying, 'To err is human, to forgive, divine'. In our modern world, this statement suggests that it is part of our human nature to make mistakes, but to forgive someone of those mistakes is hard to do and doesn't come naturally. As a matter of fact, only God can truly forgive, and true forgiveness is a divine attribute.

To err is human, to forgive, divine is an attempt to justify the difficulty of forgiving. It is so difficult for many of us that we would prefer to hang on to an offence until it adversely affects us. Then we build up a rationale against forgiveness in our own minds.

Well, as you would have already guessed, to err is human, to forgive, divine is not in the Bible. In 1711, the English poet Alexander Pope wrote, "Good nature and good sense must ever join/to err is human; to forgive, divine".

But it opens the question, is it worthwhile to forgive?

In this two-part article, we will discuss some of the reasons why this proverb is so widely accepted. We will explore four reasons that seem legitimate, and then we will look at what God really says about forgiveness.

 

FOUR REASONS WE THINK WE SHOULD NOT FORGIVE

 

1 Forgiveness denies the seriousness of the offence:

Many people believe that by forgiving, we are denying the severity of an offence. It is like saying that what our offender did wrong doesn't really matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. Forgiveness does not overlook the offence, even though some people believe that when God forgives our sin, He overlooks our sin. That is not what the Bible teaches! The Bible says, "The Lord is slow to get angry, but His power is great, and He never lets the guilty go unpunished." Nahum 1:3a NLT.

Jesus paid the price for our sinful offences at Calvary and teaches His disciples to pray in Matthew 6:12 NIV saying, "and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors". Forgiveness does not pretend that an offence has not occurred. But here is what we reason: if forgiveness is going to simply gloss over the serious wrongs that have been done to me, then I shouldn't have to forgive.

2 Forgiveness lets people off the hook too easily:

One of the most basic hindrances to forgiveness is the fear of further abuse. We have a legitimate concern that forgiving our offender will give him or her permission to hurt us even more deeply. Such a legitimate fear about the consequences of forgiveness probably prompted Peter to ask Jesus, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" Matthew 18:21 NLT. Many of us think like Peter. We mistakenly think that there must be some limit to forgiveness.

3 Forgiveness places too much responsibility on the offended:

A convincing argument can be made for the fact that asking victims to 'let go of their pain' and deny their desire for justice is placing too much responsibility on the person who has been hurt instead of the offender. Isn't it illogical to place the forgiveness burden on the victim of the wrong and expect them to be able to let go of serious hurts? Are we asking too much of them?

So, we reason, "If forgiveness is going to place such a heavy burden on my shoulders, then I shouldn't have to forgive."

4 Forgiveness is unfair:

Gradually, as we have considered these legitimate objections to forgiveness, we have inadvertently uncovered the bottom-line argument on which all other objections to forgiveness are based: forgiveness is unfair!

All of us are created in the image of God, and regardless of how badly that image has been marred by sin, we still retain a sense of innate fairness. When we see a wrong committed, we instinctively know that it's unjust for that wrong to go unpunished!

All these rational objectives arise from a basic misunderstanding of the concept of forgiveness.

- Join us next week as we will look at what forgiveness truly entails and four biblical reasons why we should forgive others who have wronged us.