I never thought I'd enjoy reading Jane Eyre, especially since I disliked Pride and Prejudice earlier in my education, so I dreaded the reading assignment I was given by my teacher. It was slow going, until I read this quote, spoken by character Helen Burns:
"Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end." - Charlotte Brontë
As I read this, my heart was reminded of a great truth of my faith! Forgiveness offers peace and calm. It seems so backwards to conventional wisdom to forgive those that hurt and oppress you, to turn the other cheek, to walk two miles instead of one, and to offer your shirt as well as your jacket. Everything this world teaches us says to pay back what is given to you – good for good, and bad for bad – and to only do what you must. But instead of conditional kindness, Christ calls us to unconditional grace by modeling how we ought to live.
Harboring unforgiveness (which, taken in the context of the quote, is what Helen Burns is talking about) is detrimental! Many do it, plotting revenge and imagining bad things happening to the ones that have hurt them, but I've heard it put very plainly: harboring unforgiveness is like drinking poison yourself and expecting the other person to get hurt.
In fact, science backs this up. When we do not forgive those that wrong us, chemicals are released throughout our body that corrode and eat away at us. While the nagging sense of unforgiveness is felt emotionally, it's also felt physiologically. The body seems to release a sort of 'poison' when we do not forgive. Those who forgive are much healthier, happier people than those who won't let go of a grudge. As Helen puts it, she "...[lives] in calm."
The reason we do not forgive is because we think that forgiveness removes the need for justice, but in fact, it does not. If I were to lend you my watch, and you were to break it, I could choose to not forgive you, and so you'd need to pay for it. If I chose to forgive you, I would be the one paying for a replacement watch. The cost was not removed, but the burden of payment was transferred from the one to the other.
We have our sense of right and wrong, which is where our sense of justice comes from. While evolutionists may struggle with the origin with morality, I believe it came from the One Who created us in His own image; and thus, we have His morals. He instilled in our hearts what we can call the law. He authored the Law (capital "L") for the Israelite nation in the Bible, but the law (little "l") in our hearts parallels much of the Law given to the Israelites.
Atheists and believers alike know within themselves that it is wrong to murder another human being. This is just one example; we similarly have generalized ideas of wrongdoing like adultery and theft, as well as ideas of goodness, like kindness or forgiveness. These rules were outlined in the Ten Commandments, given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Whether you look at the Law in the Bible or the law in our hearts, we begin to realize that we all fall so short of being good ourselves. The longer we look at the rules that SHOULD govern our existence, the more we realize that we are not righteous. We do not live up to the standard God set for us, described by the Law (or the law).
Good Friday is all about God's sacrifice of His own Son for us on the cross. That's incredible grace, but here is an incredible truth; and this REALLY excites me: the Law was NEVER intended to make us righteous. It was not given to the Israelites to show them how to measure up to God. They followed the rules, thinking they could be good enough for God, but that wasn't the intention at all. The Law's (or law's) sole intention is to help sinful humans recognize just how much they need a Savior.
The sacrifices made in the Old Testament were instituted to show the Israelite nation that they needed God; they could not be righteous without Him. The law could never make anyone better, it could only point out our faults! Now, this would be a hopeless realization if we ignored the fact that Jesus Christ offers His righteousness to us, in place of our own unrighteousness.
See, the law reveals the need for GRACE. Grace says that even when wrong is committed, good is repaid. Even when we are oppressed, we forgive the oppressor. Grace says that love, generosity, and kindness will be shown to everyone, no matter the circumstances. Grace says that Jesus Christ died on the cross while we still hated Him, so that He could save us.
He forgave us, but He did not remove the need for justice; instead, He took the payment upon Himself.
There is so much freedom in knowing that the law was never intended to make us righteous! It is so beautiful! It shows us how desperately we need Jesus Christ; but no longer are we burdened with the responsibility of perfection. Instead, we know that Christ IS perfection for us, and we can live in freedom!
Today is Good Friday. This is the day that we celebrate Christ's death on the cross, forever removing our sins from God's memory. We, like God, can love the sinner and hate the sin itself, because we recognize that the law is not a means to live righteously, but simply a measure of righteousness. And, like Helen Burns, we can #LiveItLikeJesus: at peace with the world, even when bad things happen to us, because we have an eternal hope in forgiveness.
No comments:
Post a Comment