Authentic Forgiveness: Living out a Complex Commandment

Forgiveness is one of the most challenging issues in the church today. We all know we should forgive, we’ve been told to forgive and we’ve told others to forgive. But what does it really mean?

Biblical teaching on forgiveness is complex and multi-layered. It takes account of the conflicting relational dynamics of daily life, but in the contemporary church it is often portrayed in an unhelpfully simplistic way. Scripture seems to contradict itself. We see God saying at times that He won’t forgive. And yet we also have the surprising challenge that God’s forgiveness of us is linked with our forgiveness of others.

From a practical perspective, authentic forgiveness is hard. Perhaps we’ve been hurt, betrayed, even abused. Maybe it’s happened repeatedly. We might be angry or be seeking justice. Sometimes the ‘command’ to forgive can feel like an additional burden. And the hardest person to forgive is often ourselves. What does the practical application of forgiveness look like in these moments?

In this workshop Pastors Peter Holmes and Susan Williams take us on a Biblical and psychologically-informed journey, exploring how God intends forgiveness to bring healing and freedom. They map out the various expectations of forgiveness that appear in Scripture and suggest practical steps leading toward living forgiveness being a reality for us and for others.