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There was once a man who did a terrible thing. He knew that he had done something very, very wrong, and he also knew that he could not undo the harm that he had caused. He believed in God, but he doubted that God would or could forgive him for such a heinous act.

The man came to a point where he was constantly tormented by the memory of his mistake. His heart hurt whenever it came to mind. No matter what he did, he could not stop thinking about what he had done. His physical and emotional pain became so unbearable that he cried out to God for forgiveness. He kept crying out to God until his suffering ended, and he knew that he had been forgiven.

With deep gratitude, he thanked God for forgiving him. Immediately, he heard a kind and gentle voice whisper into his heart, “My son, I love you way too much to do that.”

Secrets of the Story

This story points to the difference between human forgiveness and God’s forgiveness. Let’s examine three typical meanings of forgiveness (in bold type followed by commentary) from Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition:

1. To give up resentment against or the desire to punish; stop being angry with; pardon

God doesn’t get angry, resent anything, or desire to punish anyone for anything. Anger, resentment, and the desire for punishment are all human creations. They do not form a part of God’s character. The idea of pardon implies that God withholds something that the man wants or needs. Nothing could be further from the truth.

2. To give up all claim to punish or exact penalty for (an offense); overlook

With regard to the second meaning of forgiveness, God didn’t give up a claim to punish because God never made a claim to punish in the first place and had no interest in doing so.

Punishment and making claims to punishment were created by people to address problems created by people. God did not create punishment or claims to punishment and would never adopt these practices.

And God most certainly did not overlook the situation because God knew that the man had caused great harm to himself and to others. The universe is built upon a perfect harmony of laws. Whenever the workings of the universe are disrupted by the exercise of any will that is out of harmony with those laws, God is deeply concerned for the well-being of each and all. Our Heavenly Parent responds to pain and suffering with a deeply heartfelt desire to help. God is ever-ready and always eager to help. 

3. To cancel or remit (a debt)

This third meaning of forgiveness includes the concept of debt and the possibility of paying it back or eliminating it altogether. Again we are dealing with things created by people to manage problems created by people. The idea of forgiveness as relating to the cancelling or paying of debts leads to questions such as: Who is indebted to whom? How much debt is there? What kind of debt is it? By what means can the debt be repaid or cancelled? The idea of debt elimination is not helpful in contemplating God’s character and does not go far enough in describing how God brings harmony back to a creation unbalanced by the erroneous exercise of will.

These three typical definitions of forgiveness show that it is a human concept based in human experience. The concept of forgiveness as defined in human affairs does not adequately point toward who God is and what God does. God’s business is more beautiful and profound than anything that human beings can imagine. God is in the Unlimited and Unconditional Love business. God loves each and every precious child.

The man in the story experienced a forgiveness which is nothing like the definitions of forgiveness above. In the story the man allowed God’s Love to flow into his soul through his desperate cries for God’s help; and when he received enough of it, the pain and suffering associated with his errors were relieved. He thought of his experience in terms of human forgiveness – the only kind he knew up to that point. It is this kind of forgiveness that is denied at the end of the story. God loves us way too much to forgive as people do. But the response he received at the end of the story indicates that he experienced something other than what the word forgiveness means because that word is based on people’s experiences with themselves and other people. God’s forgiveness is very, very different from human forgiveness which depends on certain conditions being met in relation to the offended or the lender. God’s forgiveness is a function of Divine Love.

Many people believe that God has to go through a process before being willing to forgive anyone for anything since this is a very common human experience. This is not the case at all. It is the person in need of divine forgiveness who needs to go through a process before she or he is willing to accept the divine forgiveness that is freely available for the asking. If we experience any delay between our request for God’s forgiveness and our experience of it, it is not a reflection on God’s readiness or willingness to give it, it is only a reflection of our preparedness to receive it.