A person who has been forgiven has a clear purpose: to be allowed to improve themselves and their condition. In 1 Corinthians 15:34a, it is written, “Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning.” There is a correlation between forgiveness and the opportunity to become better. However, it must first be emphasized that God does not forgive us because we do good. On the contrary, before any good deeds are shown, God has already extended His grace to forgive us. This means that forgiveness is, first and foremost, God’s grace toward humanity. No matter how well a person behaves afterward, if God had not first opened Himself to reconciliation with us, all good deeds would be in vain. Thus, when we say that forgiveness has a clear purpose, we do not intend to elevate good works or eliminate the element of grace in God’s forgiveness.
The gracious God who forgives us desires change in us. From the human perspective, this is a great opportunity that must be responded to sincerely. A person who does not respond adequately to God’s forgiveness by changing their life during this opportunity is effectively treating God’s grace as cheap. When we realize we have been forgiven, we should begin to take our lives seriously, for this opportunity could end at any time. Therefore, there is no more appropriate response to God’s grace than continual repentance. Forgiveness is an opportunity.
From God’s perspective, however, forgiveness is not only grace but also a risk that God Himself takes. Risk here means that there is no guarantee that when God grants His forgiveness, human beings will respond correctly. There is always the possibility that people will continue to turn their backs on God and repeatedly fall into the same mistakes. Yet rather than focusing on that risk, God still opens the door of forgiveness to us. Here we can perceive the astonishing greatness of God’s heart. Even when there is no sufficient reason to forgive, He chooses to remain faithful, even when we are unfaithful. Therefore, forgiveness does not speak only of grace and opportunity, but also of risk. Forgiveness is the encounter of three major crossroads: grace, opportunity, and risk.
This truth has substantial implications for the forgiveness we extend to others. When we understand that forgiveness is grace, opportunity, and risk all at once, we realize that when we forgive someone, there is always the possibility that we may be hurt again by the same person through the same wrongdoing. Even though that possibility is real, we are still called to give that person another opportunity. Why? Because we ourselves have first been given a great opportunity in the grace of God. In other words, what we have received from God must also be passed on to others.
Reading this truth is like placing burning coals upon our own heads. On the one hand, we know it is true; on the other hand, it is tough and can even feel consuming. Yet there is no other option. Shouldn’t our lives be like His? If so, then living in forgiveness that embraces these three dimensions is something we cannot avoid. To forgive means continually placing ourselves in a vulnerable position. We may be betrayed again at any time. There is no guarantee that the person we forgive will change. Yet this is the very nature of forgiveness: the meeting point of grace (our generosity of heart), opportunity (our willingness to open ourselves), and risk (the absence of guarantees).
Without any one of these three, true forgiveness cannot occur. Therefore, let us realize today that when we forgive someone, we have only one hope: to express all three under the guidance of the Spirit of God. Let us not be driven merely by ego—wanting to forgive, yet unwilling to open the opportunity for relationships to be restored as before, and unwilling to accept the risk that we may be hurt again.