Facing the Forgiveness Challenge
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
Philippians 3.13-14 records, I am single-minded….. I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Most business men I know are quite single-minded: striving to win in the marketplace. The win is the new client, increased market share, greater revenue or just the approval of the boss. Success in these areas results in greater income and more responsible titles.
Few are the men not swept up into this way of thinking and living. Encountering God personally through Jesus the Savior is to change the focus, direction and measure of our lives.
Most of our normal thinking and doing is fairly good because we are created in the image of God and so our conscience leads us in a generally right path if we follow it. The problem for which we need a Savior is that our conscience, and all the rest of ‘us’, is corrupt at birth do to the inheritance of sin passed on genetically from Adam to every person.
This corruption results in our focus, direction and measure of our lives being away from God and toward our own opinion of what matters. Turning away from this corruption and toward Jesus seeking Him to be our Lord, the One Who commands our lives, results in a new focus, direction and measure.
Before Christ I focused on personal success measuring my worth by my treasure, titles and trophys. In Christ, I focus on His glory on earth as measured by His kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.
The primary work I am to do now, the success I am most to seek now, is the moving of my fellow citizens from their lives of corruption to lives of reconciliation with Jesus then joining with them in the communal pursuit of absolute obedience to all of Jesus’ commands.
Being singularly focused and striving for success are normal and good. When corrupted I measure these things by their benefit toward me, when redeemed I measure these things by their benefit toward Jesus.
The question for me now becomes which focus does my life’s work reflect?
His Opportunities
- CEO’s, are you looking for a private group of fellow business owners for encouragement, support, and advice? CBMC offers such a group. Contact Mike at mwinter@cbmc.com for more information.
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MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
April 3, 2017
Facing the Forgiveness Challenge
by Robert J. Tamasy
When was the last time you forgave someone for a wrong they had done to you? When was the last time you went to someone else and asked for their forgiveness?
These can be challenging questions, because among the many things we are asked to do in today’s business and professional world, forgiving and being forgiven are often among the most difficult. So difficult, in fact, many people choose to avoid them entirely. We hang onto grudges and nurse hurts rather than attempting to reconcile relationships. Instead of requesting forgiveness, even if we realize we have said or done something wrong, we ignore it, hoping the offending party will forget over time.
C.S. Lewis, one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, summed it up well when he observed, “Everyone thinks that forgiveness is a lovely idea, until he has something to forgive.” He might well have been saying that when it comes to forgiveness, it is more blessed to receive than to give.
Veteran consultants and executive coaches know a recurring issue their clients must confront involves forgiveness. Failure to forgive can destroy partnerships, leadership teams, even entire organizations. It might range from something simple, such as unkind words, to doing something in anger that we later regret, to total failure to fulfill a major business commitment.
It can be easy to say, “forgive and forget,” but extremely hard to do. Often, to forgive feels like letting someone off the hook for wrongdoing without making amends. Instead, we decide never to forget the harm they have done to us. The problem is, we can become victims of our own unwillingness to forgive. Offending parties may not be aware of the pain we harbor, they may not care, or we may have lost contact with them, leaving no opportunity for reconciliation or restitution.
What then should we do about forgiveness? The Bible offers sound advice on this matter:
Be willing to forgive even more than necessary. Talking to His followers, Jesus dismissed the “eye for an eye” vengeance approach for correcting wrongs. Instead, He urged being the “bigger person” in the conflict. “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well…” (Matthew 5:38-40).
Consider how much God has forgiven us. In offering His model prayer as a guide, Jesus put special emphasis on forgiving others. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:12-15).
Failure to forgive can plant seeds of bitterness. Even if feelings are justified, being able to forgive can free us from a form of “emotional cancer.” “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).
© 2017. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; and coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring. His biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
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