Over the years I've counseled some individuals who've been horribly sinned against.

At times I did a really poor job of helping them navigate their pain and the process of working toward forgiveness. Forgiving others is clearly commanded by God, and deep down most believers want to, but it isn't always easy, and lots of questions arise. Questions like, when I forgive must I feel like forgiving? If I forgive you does it mean end of discussion and I can't talk about my hurt feelings? Does it mean everything's automatically back to the way it was before you sinned against me? There are whole books written on the subject but here are a few things that forgiveness doesn't mean. I hope they are helpful.

The command to forgive doesn't mean that it's easy or that we must forgive quickly. When we are sinned against it can be devastating, life-shattering, disillusioning, disorienting. Some sins are easy to forgive, but others can take a long time, much prayer, and much help from God. When someone's reeling in pain, the first thing they need is our compassion and sympathy, not a quick encouragement to forgive. That will probably be part of the process of helping someone, but not the first step. I regret that at times in the past I was incredibly insensitive to some people's pain and way too quick to suggest that they meet with those who'd sinned against them and grant forgiveness.

Forgiveness doesn't mean we will feel like forgiving. Forgiveness is a decision of the will to absorb the pain or consequences caused by someone's sin and not require them to repay. If you borrow my car and wreck it, someone's got to pay to fix it, you or me. If I forgive you, I make a costly decision to absorb the cost of your failure, just as Jesus absorbed the cost of our sins and paid for them on the cross. So it can be very painful to forgive someone. So the command to forgive doesn't mean we will feel forgiving when we make this decision. And it doesn't mean that we won't experience pain for a long time after we forgive.

Forgiveness doesn't mean we must immediately trust someone. Forgiveness is instantaneous; trust is earned over time. If a drunkard comes to church and turns to Christ, God forgives him immediately, but he shouldn't become a leader the next day. If someone asks our forgiveness for hurting us, we can forgive them, but it doesn't necessarily mean they've changed. It's not wrong to want to see a track record of change before trusting someone again, even if we've forgiven them.

Forgiveness doesn't mean end of discussion. How many of us husbands have said to our wives:  I said I was sorry. So why do we have to keep talking about it? Even when we forgive, it can be really important for the one sinned against to share how the offender hurt or affected them. We need to realize the consequences of our sins. Often we need to consider all that led up to our sin – how we got there in the first place – in order to prevent future sin.

And finally, forgiveness doesn't mean there are no consequences for sin. If I foolishly max out my credit card, then confess my sin, God will forgive me, but I'll still have to pay off my debt, which might take years. When we forgive someone, we are saying: Lord, please don't condemn them for this sin. Please don't give them what their sin deserves, just as you have not given me what my sins deserve. But there may still be consequences – even life-long consequences – even when God forgives them of the guilt of their sin.

Sometimes it's easy to forgive. At other times it feels like an impossible task. Very often, Jesus commands us to do the impossible, like love our enemies and do good to those who hate us (Luk 6:27). We can't do these impossible things on our own, but if God commands them, he will give us the grace to obey him if we ask for it.