The Benefits to Forgiveness

There are more benefits to forgiveness than we may be aware of at first glance.

The first benefit of forgiveness is if we forgive others, God will forgive us. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:14-15).

The second benefit of forgiveness is if we forgive others we might get depressed less often. This is because anything functions best if it does what it is made to do. God made man to forgive; hence man is healthier if he forgives. Holding a grudge against someone takes energy out of our system, leaving us feeling depressed.

The third benefit of forgiveness is if we forgive others, we will probably have fewer other sins than if we do not forgive others. When the natural eye focuses on something, it makes an image on the retina that is transmitted to the brain. When a person’s spiritual eye focuses on the evil of another, it makes an image on their spiritual eye which is transferred to the mind. Hence if we rejoice in the sins of another long enough, their sins will become our sins. We can see this from Rom. 2:1. “Therefore thou art inexcusable, 0 man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou con­demnest thyself: for thou that judgest doest the same things.” Paul did not say, “thou that judgest is also a sinner”; he said, “thou that judgest doest The same things.” This shows that if we hold a grudge long enough, we will end up having the same sins as the person whom we do not forgive.

The fourth benefit of forgiveness is if we forgive others, we will grow to love God. 1 Jn. 4:20 says, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” We show our appreciation for God’s forgiveness by forgiving others. If we do not forgive, it will be hard to realize that God forgives, and we may lose our love for God altogether.

The benefits of forgiveness are great. All of us need our sins forgiven. We will only attain this from God if we forgive others. Since we are not happy if we hold a grudge, we can limit depression by forgiving. Not dwelling on the sins of others keeps us from being slaves to their sins. Lastly, if we forgive we can grow to love God.