Transferring the Debt: Finding Freedom in Forgiveness
Against you, you only, have I sinned … -- Psalm 51:4
It used to annoy me when a lender transferred my loan to another lender. I understood why this might be best for the lender—and hopefully me. It meant another entity was better equipped to service my debt. But it left me unsure who I was indebted to. Okay … there was plenty of paperwork to explain, but my ability to remember financial things is marginal at best.
There is a place where my ability to remember is much better—the place of offense. Pride and my desire to see the other party punished chiseled every offense into the stony areas of my heart.
That’s not true of me anymore, since I now understand that I not only could but should transfer that debt to its rightful owner.
Our forgiveness doesn’t release the one who hurt us from their sin debt. It simply transfers that debt to Jesus.
King David understood this when he wrote Psalm 51.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Psalm 51:4
Though he had committed adultery and then murder, he realized his true debt was to the Lord.
The people who sin against us, who hurt and betray us, who lie and steal and destroy, are ultimately indebted to Jesus.
For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11)
No one escapes this world without needing to be forgiven as much as they themselves need to forgive.
Holding onto that debt through unforgiveness is a burden we aren’t meant to carry.
The one who hurts us may never be repentant like David. They may not realize who it is they’ve sinned against. But it is still a debt they owe to God. He alone is equipped to handle that debt.
Our unwillingness to forgive—our determination to carry that grudge or hold tight to the hurt—harms us more than we realize. It diminishes our witness and steals our joy. It impedes our sanctification when we should be being made into the image bearers of Christ who forgave even those who crucified Him (see Luke 23:34).
It’s too heavy a burden to bear. Thankfully, we were never meant to.
I found the following suggestion for forgiving even when forgiveness is anything but what we feel.
We declare that (fill in the blank) is no longer in our debt, and that we have transferred that debt to the Cross.
After all, Jesus is far more equipped to handle its payment than we are.
Question for Reflection:
Who do you need to forgive? Take some time to pray, then declare their debt has been transferred to the Cross. Perhaps write it out and put it where you can reread it whenever thoughts of unforgiveness threaten to rise again.
