Forgive: A Dog’s Perspective

My human was sitting on the porch this morning with his Bible in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

I was sitting beside him, which is where I generally sit when there’s a possibility breakfast might soon show up.

He was reading about forgiveness.

Now, I know something about forgiveness.

I’m pretty good at it.

You can step on my tail, forget to feed me, or close the door while I’m standing on the wrong side of it. Five minutes later, I’m ready to start over.

Dogs don’t seem to keep a detailed record of offenses.

Humans, on the other hand, have pretty good memories.

Especially when somebody hurts them.

My human said something that caught my attention:

“Forgiving someone doesn’t necessarily mean forgetting what happened.”

I thought about that.

Maybe forgiveness and forgetting aren’t the same thing.

And forgiveness and reconciliation aren’t the same thing either.

Forgiveness means surrendering my right to revenge. I release the debt to God and refuse to let someone else’s sin become the master of my heart.

Reconciliation is the restoration of a relationship.

And that takes two people.

I can forgive when reconciliation isn’t possible. Trust may need to be rebuilt. Repentance and changed behavior may be necessary. Sometimes healthy boundaries remain.

But here’s where the Gospel changes everything.

I don’t forgive because people deserve it.

I forgive because I have been forgiven.

The cross proves it.

Jesus didn’t pretend my sin didn’t matter. He didn’t call evil good or sweep my guilt under the rug.

He took my sin upon Himself.

The debt was real.

The cost was real.

And Jesus paid it.

That’s grace.

So when I struggle to forgive someone who has hurt me, I’m not being asked to manufacture some warm, fuzzy feeling.

I’m being called to remember the mercy I have already received.

Someone may owe me something.

But I owe Jesus everything… He forgave me.

That doesn’t make forgiveness easy. Sometimes I have to surrender the hurt to Christ again and again.

But that’s part of what it means to follow Jesus.

The Gospel isn’t just something I believe about eternity.

It changes how I live today.

I can remember the wound without worshiping the wound.

I can remember the lesson without nursing the bitterness.

I can forgive without pretending it never happened.

And I can leave reconciliation in God’s hands while pursuing peace when it is right and possible.

My human took another sip of coffee and turned the page.

I leaned against his leg.

I reckon forgiveness isn’t saying, “It didn’t matter.”

It’s saying, “It mattered. It hurt. But because Christ has forgiven me, I refuse to let it become the master of me.”

Jesus is my Master.

Grace is my story.

And forgiveness is one way I show that the Gospel has actually gotten hold of my heart.

Amen.

“Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’”

- Matthew 18:21-22 ESV