Ask Forgiveness.
A charming letter once received by me contains some paragraphs which I must share. The writer, who is a woman, says:
“One question which has been puzzling me somewhat lately is about forgiveness. Of course, we know it is our duty to forgive; but isn't it just as much a duty to ask forgiveness? Does God forgive us before we ask Him, or before we repent of our sins? And can we do anything more than be willing to forgive others when they have wronged us, until they express a desire for pardon?
“In our family we somehow formed the habit of asking forgiveness for angry words and unkind deeds, of which most of us are guilty at times even though we are Christians. And it has been such a help to us that I wonder why more people do not observe the same custom. It binds us together in a sweeter and truer fellowship than we could have if we made no effort to atone for our misdeeds, and to soothe the wounded feelings of our dear ones."
Unwillingness to ask forgiveness is one of the commonest of faults. Indeed, it is a sin, because it continues a sin. It is born of pride: we do not want to own our errors. We are willing to acknowledge them to God—strange anomaly!—but not to man. We would rather stand well with man than with God!
In reality, no action of ours could possibly raise the opinion of others regarding us so much as this same frank confession of wrongdoing and humble petition for forgiveness. It is a manifestation of courage, of manliness, of real heroism. It warms men's hearts toward us immediately. A wise pride would seek the honor that this deed brings with it.
Of all the contrivances of Satan none is so crafty, none so mischievous, as this obstinate silence when we know that we should ask forgiveness.
Forgetting Records.
A bill brought before one of our State legislatures provides that if a convict during the fifteen years following the expiration of his imprisonment is not again convicted of a crime the legal memory of his crime and imprisonment shall be wiped out. The record of it is not to be produced in any court, nor is any evidence regarding it to be used in court, nor is the ex-convict himself to be required to testify regarding it. So far as the law is concerned the man is to be regarded as not an ex-convict after those fifteen years. His prison record is obliterated.
The idea of this bill is thoroughly Christian. That is just what God does for the forgiven sinner. He puts the sin behind His back. He remembers it no more against us. He removes it as far as the east is from the west. He washes out the record till it is as white as snow.
If we forgive but do not forget we might as well not forgive. It is the forgetfulness that the sinner wants, away down in his heart. He wants the brand smoothed out from his forehead. He wants the stigma off his name. He wants to hold up his head, not as one whose sin is pardoned and forgiven, but as one with whom one does not connect the thought of sin at all. God does that. Christ is God's merciful forgetfulness as well as His merciful forgiveness. And it is wisdom for man to do whatever God does.