The alternative to forgiveness|| 饶恕与否

This article is a part of a series called “Spiritual Waimai Voices” where we welcome our friends to share some spiritual food with us in their own voice. This Spiritual Waimai was written and recorded by our friend Veronica.

本文是《属灵外卖之声》系列文章之一，该系列里我们欢迎朋友们用自己的声音来分享灵粮。这篇属灵外卖的写作来自我们的朋友Veronica.

What if I just can’t forgive
我就是不能原谅

In very difficult circumstances, we can probably all agree that forgiving others is hard. But what is the alternative? The only other option you have is to harbor unforgiveness. When unforgiveness takes up space in your heart, then what happens?

在异常艰难的景况当中， 我们每一个人大概都承认饶恕人实在是太难了。可是还有别的选择吗?你另外的唯一选择就是记恨于心。当你的心里充满了不饶恕，那会怎样呢?

Unforgiveness affects our offering of worship
不饶恕会影响Jing Bai

It is clear that God cares about our relationship with one another just as much as He cares about our relationship with Him. Jesus said:

很明显，Shen很在意我们与他人的关系，就像衪在意我们与衪的关系一样。Ye Su说:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24

 

所以，你在祭坛上献礼物的时候，若想起弟兄向你怀怨，就把礼物留在坛前，先去同弟兄和好，然后来献礼物。马太福音5:23-24

God’s desire is for our relationship with another to be on good terms, and if it is not on good terms, He reminds us that our worship of God is affected by it.

Shen的愿望是让我们与他人关系融洽，衪提醒我们，如果关系相处不好会影响我们Jing Bai Shen。

Unforgiveness contradicts love
不饶恕与爱相悖

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4: 19-21

 

我们爱，因为Shen先爱我们。人若说，“我爱Shen”，却恨他的弟兄，就是说谎话的；不爱他所看见的弟兄，就不能爱没有看见的Shen（有古卷作“怎能爱没有看见的Shen呢？”）。爱Shen的，也当爱弟兄，这是我们从Shen所受的命令。约翰一书 4:19-21

Unforgiveness contradicts love. And God is love. Therefore, we can say it contradicts (goes against or opposes) God! If we say we love God surely we would love all that matters to God and all that God values. Therefore, when we withhold forgiveness from another, it is an indication or a sign that your heart doesn’t belong to God but to yourself, which is idolatry. It is idolatry because it means you put yourself first before God.

不饶恕是与爱相悖的。Shen就是爱。因此，我们就能说不饶恕违背了(冒犯或反对）Shen!我们若说爱Shen，就必然会爱Shen认为重要和珍视的一切东西。因此，当我们拒绝饶恕他人时，这是一种暗示或迹象，表明你的心不是属于Shen，而是属于你自己，这是偶像崇拜。之所以称之为偶像崇拜，是因为你把自己放在了Shen之上。

Unforgiveness hurts your relationship with God
不饶恕会伤害你和Shen之间的关系

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15

 

“你们饶恕人的过犯，你们的天父也必饶恕你们的过犯；你们不饶恕人的过犯，你们的天父也必不饶恕你们的过犯。”马太福音6:14-15

Do not misunderstand. This passage is not saying that God’s forgiveness is a direct result of our forgiving others…rather what it is telling us is that when we refuse to forgive another, it is the same as if we are refusing God. Therefore, unforgiveness hurts your relationship with God.

不要误会。这段经文并不是说Shen饶恕我们是我们饶恕他人的直接结果，而是告诉我们，当我们拒绝饶恕他人时，就像我们在拒绝Shen一样。因此，不饶恕会伤害你与Shen的关系。

I can forgive only because God forgave me
全因Shen饶恕了我，我才能饶恕别人

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “LORD, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35

 

那时彼得进前来，对Ye Su说：“主啊，我弟兄得罪我，我当饶恕他几次呢？到七次可以吗？”Ye Su说：“我对你说：不是到七次，乃是到七十个七次。天国好像一个王要和他仆人算账。才算的时候，有人带了一个欠一千万银子的来。因为他没有什么偿还之物，主人吩咐把他和他妻子儿女，并一切所有的都卖了偿还。那仆人就俯伏拜他，说：‘主啊，宽容我，将来我都要还清。’那仆人的主人就动了慈心，把他释放了，并且免了他的债。”“那仆人出来，遇见他的一个同伴欠他十两银子，便揪着他，掐住他的喉咙，说：‘你把所欠的还我！’他的同伴就俯伏央求他说：‘宽容我吧！将来我必还清。’他不肯，竟去把他下在监里，等他还了所欠的债。众同伴看见他所作的事，就甚忧愁，去把这事都告诉了主人。于是，主人叫了他来，对他说：‘你这恶奴才！你央求我，我就把你所欠的都免了。你不应当怜恤你的同伴，像我怜恤你吗？’主人就大怒，把他交给掌刑的，等他还清了所欠的债。你们各人若不从心里饶恕你的弟兄，我天父也要这样待你们了。” 马太福音18:21-35

In this passage, the debtor received mercy and compassion yet did not extend the same mercy nor compassion to another. God expects us to extend mercy and forgiveness to others in the same way as He has done to us.

在这段经文中，欠债的人得到了怜悯和同情，却没有将同样的怜悯和同情施予另一个人。Shen希望我们能像衪在我们身上所做的那样，对他人施以仁慈和饶恕。

When God instructs us to forgive others, it’s out of the basis that we ourselves have already received forgiveness from Him. It’s not that God is asking us for anything different or more difficult than what He Himself has done! He has set the example for us to follow. All He asks is for us to extend the same mercy and grace that has been extended to us by Him.

当Shen教导我们要饶恕他人时，是源于我们自己已经从衪那里得了饶恕。这并不是说神要我们行与祂所为不同甚至更困难的事!衪为我们树立了学习的榜样。衪所要求的，就是要我们把衪所赐的怜悯和恩典施予他人。

Forgiveness is initiated by God
饶恕是源于Shen

Though the Israelites continued to be unfaithful to God, doing wrong against God, and were not even repentant or remorseful about it…God was the one who initiated forgiveness.

虽然以色列人依然对Shen不忠，做了悖逆Shen的事，甚至没有悔改或懊悔的意思，但神却是主动饶恕的那一方。

“Yet you have not called on me, Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel. You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:22-25

 

“雅各啊，你并没有求告我；以色列啊，你倒厌烦我。你没有将你的羊带来给我作燔祭，也没有用祭物尊敬我；我没有因供物使你服劳，也没有因乳香使你厌烦。你没有用银子为我买菖蒲，也没有用祭物的脂油使我饱足；倒使我因你的罪恶服劳，使我因你的罪孽厌烦。”“惟有我为自己的缘故涂抹你的过犯，我也不记念你的罪恶。以赛亚书43:22-25

It is for God’s own sake that He decides to forgive! It is not even for the sake of the people, but for His own sake! We also read of how God is the initiator of forgiveness in Colossians:

Shen为自己的缘故，决定饶恕人。这甚至不是为了衪的子民，而是为了衪自己！我们在《歌罗西书》中也读到是Shen主动饶恕人:

When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! Colossians 2:13-14

 

你们从前在过犯和未受割礼的肉体中死了，Shen赦免了你们（或作“我们”）一切过犯，便叫你们与基督一同活过来，又涂抹了在律例上所写攻击我们有碍于我们的字据，把它撤去，钉在十字架上。歌罗西书2:13-14

Although we have committed the greatest wrong against God, the sin that resulted in the penalty of death and eternal separation from God, it is God who took the initiative to forgive us by sending Jesus to pay the penalty of sin on our behalf.

虽然我们对神犯下最大的过失—-罪，它导致死亡并与神永远隔绝的刑罚，但是Shen主动饶恕了我们，差派Ye Su为我们担当了罪的惩罚。

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

 

Shen爱世人，甚至将他的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信他的，不至灭亡，反得永生。
约翰福音3:16

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

 

所以你们该效法Shen，好像蒙慈爱的儿女一样。也要凭爱心行事，正如基督爱我们，为我们舍了自己，当作馨香的供物和祭物献与Shen。以弗所书5:1-2

Jesus endured great suffering and was nailed to the cross for the sake of our forgiveness! And all that God expects from us is to do the same as He Himself has done. So when your heart says, “I just can’t forgive!” remember the heart of Jesus who has already forgiven you and gives you the ability to extend grace, mercy and forgiveness to others.

Ye Su忍受了巨大的痛苦，为饶恕我们而被钉十字架！Shen所期望我们的就是照衪自己所行的去行。所以当你心想：“我就是无法原谅！”请记得Ye Su的心肠，衪早已原谅了你，并赐你能力给予他人恩典、怜悯和饶恕。