Does God Need Forgiving?

It’s hard to reconcile the power of God and evil in the world. God never does evil…but the truth is…He doesn’t always stop it either. Sometimes…the bad stuff in our lives are our own fault…but sometimes it’s because God allowed it. This article addresses the question, “Does God need forgiving?”

I’m not sure who coined the phrase, “Life’s not fair,” but I think he might have been on to something. Because, sometimes, it’s true. I’m not sure why somethings happen, and I’m not going to pretend I do. All I know is there’s always a reason, whether I’ll ever know or not.

In this article I’m going to attempt to address a somewhat touchy subject, forgiving God. In doing so, I’m going to be as vulnerable as I can and tell my stories.

I understand many of you will have many more stories, which have affected your life. To be honest, I don’t know how it feels to have lost a son or daughter, or even a parent for that matter.

I don’t know how it feels to see your parents go through divorce, nor do I know how it feels to go through a divorce myself.

I’ll share some of my experiences with hurt, but I cannot even begin to understand some of the hurt many of you have experienced. Though I can’t, God can. Therefore, if you finish this article with the desire to totally forgive God for whatever has happened in your life, then my purpose with this article will be fulfilled.

My First Failing Grade

I consider myself to be an adequate student, though this has not always been true. For instance, during my first semester of college I took a chemistry class. I’d like to say I simply did not understand the material. However, though that might be truth, the full truth is I didn’t always do my homework.

The end of the semester came and, as it turns out, I failed. I had received my first “F” in college. Heck, I had just received my first “F” ever! My friend in the class did well. I was not happy. How did he make a good grade and I made an “F”?.

In my view, this was not fair. I tell this story because I want to start off with the understanding that sometimes my failures are not God’s fault.

It wasn’t God’s fault I didn’t do the homework or spend the required time studying. It wasn’t God’s fault I failed. There are some events; however, that one could blame God.

My Grandfather

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. They took care of my brother and I when my parents were at work. During the school year, my brother and I would get off the bus at my grandparent’s house and stay with them for dinner.

We all went fishing together, cut firewood, and worked on the farm together. My grandfather taught me many things growing up. Once, when I was a kid, I had done something wrong. I honestly don’t remember what it was, but what I do remember is my grandfather went and got a switch.

I knew what that meant, so I took off running. He was quicker than he appeared. He was gaining on me fast so I did the only thing I could do, I climbed a tree.

In this way, my grandfather taught me not to run from my problems. If they were anything like him, they were faster than me.

Once I was safely in the tree, He, waited patiently for me to come down, which I did. He didn’t have to whip us often, and when he did I’m sure we deserved it. In that way, he taught me about patience.

My Grandfather’s Passing

Towards the end of my undergraduate carrier, my grandfather passed away. He had been sick and in the hospital for some time. During the last week of his life, I went to visit him in the hospital, I grabbed his hand and told him I loved him. He replied with, “I love you too.”

Those were the last words we spoke to each other. Later that week, I received a phone call from my parents to come to the hospital as soon as I could. My dad met me in the entrance of the hospital. As we were walking to the elevators we passed by the chapel. He turned and looked at me and said, “lets go in here.”

At that moment I knew something was very wrong. We walked in and, with tears in his eyes, he informed me that paw-paw had passed away. A few days later, my friends and family gathered together and I spoke at the funeral.

Have you ever been angry with God? I was. While I was preparing for the funeral, I was both upset and angry. I had seen God do so many wonderful things…including God healing everything from head aches to broken bones.

However, as I prepped for the funeral, I was furious with God. I remember praying,

“God, I’ve seen you heal so many people. I prayed for friend with a broken leg and you healed him…for a friend with a sprang ankle and you healed them. I even prayed for a woman with cerebral palsy and you healed her. But when I prayed for my grandfather, my own family, you stood back and did nothing. You let him die. My own grandfather! Why?”

God did answer my question, but I’ll get to that in the next article in the series…Why Forgive God?

My Friend Ben

Later, during law school, I had to forgive God again. During my time at Auburn University, I became friends with an amazing man of God, Ben Farley. Ben was filled with joy like know one I had ever met. He even taught me the art of being a wingman.

When I received the news he had passed away, I didn’t know what to do. My faith was shaken. I wasn’t just angry with God, I was also confused. Ben was full of faith, full of hope, and full of love. So many people had prayed for Ben, including Heidi Baker and numerous other ministers.

If anyone was ever going to be healed of cancer, I was sure it was going to be Ben. But he wasn’t. I’m sure you have similar stories. You’ve probably seen times in your life you were sure God was going to intervene, but then He didn’t.

Are you going through one of those times now? Are you waiting for God to intervene in an area of your life? I am.

At this moment, it would be easy for me to blame God. Ask why? Maybe you’re at a similar point in your life. Has God promised you something, which does not seem like it’s going to happen? I look at my friends and sometimes I think, “life’s not fair.” If life’s not fair, then God—who is all-knowing and all powerful—permits it.

All this begs the question, if God doesn’t do evil or act unjustly…but also doesn’t always stop it either…does God need forgiving?

The idea of forgiving God is foreign to most people. It was to me. I mean, if God has never done anything wrong, why should He be forgiven?

I’ve dedicated an entire article to answering the question…Why Forgive God?…for now I want to highlight two areas where we need to forgive God. (1) When God is innocent, and (2) when God allowed something to happen or not happen.

Each area might be different…but both require us to forgive God.

When God is Innocent

The semester I failed my chemistry class, that was all me. That was not God. God did not fail me. I earned the grade of “F.” How many times do we blame God for something we did?

We’re argumentative, critical, and unloving to our spouse, and wonder why God hasn’t healed our marriage. We gamble our money away, refuse to tithe, and wonder why God hasn’t blessed our finances. We refuse to study, and wonder why God has allowed us to fail. Did He?

Maybe we did those all on our own; however, we could still be holding unforgiveness against God. One could harbor unforgiveness against a person, even though the person is innocent.

Holding Unforgiveness Against Someone Who’s Innocent

Let’s say you had If you had a roommate who you swore stole your television when he moved out, but in reality during the moving process a burglar entered you home and took the television.

You’re now holding unforgiveness against an innocent person…and…you need to forgive them. You need to forgive them for your sake. Your relationship remains in jeopardy until you do so.

Until you forgive them, you’ll feel distant and you won’t be able to trust them completely. Overtime, this unforgiveness will continue to grow.

Maybe you’ll get to the point where you don’t even want to be around the person…eventually you might not even remember why you’ve grown to not like or trust your old roommate…please don’t let this happen with your relationship with God.

If you’re struggling having a consistent and life-giving quiet time, please consider taking the quiet time challenge. In the challenge I’ll teach the you the five things I do in every quiet time…plus you’ll get my free quiet time guide and an email a day to walk you through the process. Join the challenge and get my free guide.

Take the Quiet Time Challenge

When God Allowed It

We don’t forgive God for His benefit, we forgive Him for ours. The truth is, God doesn’t do evil; however, sometimes, He also doesn’t stop it either.

Think about Job. God gave Satan the green light! God didn’t kill my grandfather, but when my grandfather was dying, God stood, looking right at him, and did nothing. At least, from my perspective He did nothing.

God had allowed him to die. Though God had done nothing wrong, I still needed to offer Him forgiveness. Not for His sake, but for mine. Does God need forgiveness? No, but I need to have forgiven Him.

Does God need forgiveness? No, but I need to have forgiven Him.

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Why Forgive God?

If God doesn’t need forgiveness, then why do I need to forgive Him? Like I just mentioned, we need to forgive God, not because He needs forgiveness, but because we need to have forgiven Him.

R.T. Kendall wrote an outstanding book titled, “Totally Forgiving God,” and in that book R.T. gives serval reasons why we ought to forgive God.

Three of those reasons, in my own words and understanding, are because unforgiveness affects our faith, unforgiveness affects our intimacy, and unforgiveness could impact the eternal.

The next article in this series…Why Forgive God?…addresses each of those reasons. The last article in this series…How to Forgive God…teaches you the process of forgiving God.

I’m not advocating that this process is easy, nor I am suggesting that what you’re going through, or went through, was trivial in the grand scheme of things. I understand it’s not easy and the situations we face in life are not trivial. All I ask is that as you remember God is good.

Conclusion

Sometimes the bad stuff in our lives is our own fault…but sometimes it’s because God allowed it to happen. Does God need forgiveness? No…but you should forgive Him. This is not for His benefit but for yours.

Forgiving God might seem weird…but it’s something that needs to be done. It’ll free you from the bonds of unforgiveness…which could be affecting your faith, intimacy, or even the eternal. This is the first article in a series of articles on forgiving God: