Father, Forgive Them

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 66, Father, Forgive Them.

"And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'" Luke 23:34.

Sit with that scene for a moment. Jesus is on the cross. Nails through his hands. Soldiers gambling for his clothes. Religious leaders mocking him from below. And the very first words out of his mouth — the very first — are not a cry of agony, not a curse, not a call for justice. They are a prayer of forgiveness. At the height of suffering, pain did not get the final word. Love did.

And look at who he is praying for. No one there had asked to be forgiven. No one repented in that hour. The soldiers were just following orders. The leaders genuinely believed they were doing God a service. Jesus saw that — he saw the blindness underneath the cruelty — and instead of letting bitterness take root in him, he opened his heart to the Father on their behalf. True forgiveness does not wait for the other person to deserve it. If it waits, it is not forgiveness — it is a transaction.

There is something here I don't want you to miss. Jesus did not talk about the soldiers. He didn't turn to the disciples and vent about who did what and who said what. He talked to the Father, for them. Praying for someone who has hurt you changes the one praying first. You cannot hold onto rage and intercede at the same time. One of them has to give — and when you choose the prayer, it is the bitterness that gives.

This is not weakness. This is the highest standard there is. Stephen, the first martyr of the church, died under a hail of stones repeating this very prayer — "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And standing right there, holding the coats of the men throwing the stones, was a young man named Saul. He was listening. That forgiveness, proclaimed in the moment of death, planted a seed that no stone could crush. Forgiveness preached from the cross still turns persecutors around.

So let me ask you — is there a name living inside you today? Someone who hurt you deeply, who maybe never said sorry, who may not even know the weight of what they did? Jesus forgave without waiting for the apology. Stephen forgave under a storm of stones. And you and I are called to the same road — not because it is easy, but because it is freeing. Carrying a grudge means carrying a burden that someone else handed you. Prayer sets that burden down.

So today, before breakfast, do this one thing: pray for the person who hurt you most. By name. Not a vague, general request — by name. Ask the Father to bless them, to reach them, to meet them with mercy. You don't have to feel like doing it. You only have to do it. The feeling comes after. The freedom comes after. It starts with the prayer.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.