The Abigail Principle

One of the first prayers that I learned as a child was the Lord’s Prayer.  I was perplexed by why we said, “Forgive us our trespasses.” Why do we say, “Us”?  Jesus gave this prayer to me, I thought.  So why don’t we say; “Forgive me my trespasses”?

As an adult, I know that if my child committed a crime, I would certainly feel like I was partly to blame and ask God to forgive us our trespasses.  As I pondered this I recalled how Abigail went to David and begged forgiveness because of the transgressions of her husband, Nabal.  (1 Sam 25:23-35)

With deep regret and repentance, she said to David, “Please forgive the transgression of this handmaiden.” She begs forgiveness for a sin that is not even her own!  It was a sin, committed by her husband. Yet she felt compelled to take it up and asked David for, “forgiveness of our transgressions” which was her husband denying David’s men food and turning them away in a time of need.  

One may think that Abigail was the brave and loving wife who interceded for her husband’s safety but in fact it is so much more!  Abigail humbly kneels before David and his men and says, "Upon me let this inequity be",  offering as Christ did, to take another’s sin upon herself.  

In Abigail's case she offered atonement to David by providing him many times the goods David asked of her husband, Nabal. Her concern is not for her husband’s safety but for saving David from doing a great wrong.  She said to him, “Please accept of my offer, that this shall be no grief unto thee."

Inexplicitly, she says ‘Forgive my transgression,” claiming the sin as her own.  Abigail asks for David’s pardon, not because she needed it, (she like Jesus, did nothing wrong) because David needed to forgive the sin instead of multiplying Nabal’s sin with his own.  As Abigail does for David, Jesus does for us. I call this “The Abigail Principle”.

The Abigail Principle needs to be applied in our daily lives because Jesus, The Savior, in absolute humility, kneels before us giving us the magnanimous blessing of the Atonement.  This is done to give us recompense for the hurtful choices of others.  The atonement that Jesus offers is a promise to “make up” for the hurts, insults and wrongs done to us by others.

Christ promises to heal us and He restores us through the act of confession and true redemption.  Like Abigail, the Savior offers more than we could ever imagine.  It is much more than what we wanted from the person who offended us. Through our trials and tribulations in life we learn from the experience. 

Like Abigail, The Lord’s concern is to keep our souls free from chaos, anger, revenge and withholding forgiveness.  Christ’s concern is to open the door to heaven, by making the Atonement possible, to save us from the greater sin of lack of forgiveness of others that places a wedge between us.  Withholding forgiveness hardens our hearts.  When we fail to forgive we have shut our door on Him. 

We must always hold in our hearts the idea that Christ died for our sins; past, present and future. During His passion, He suffered beyond our human understanding yet Christ humbly forgave those who persecuted Him. 

As I ponder this; I ask myself “Can I do the same?”  “Do I pray for my enemies?”  “Do I freely forgive those who offend me?”  I found that I didn’t do this as often as He would want me to.  I seldom made this my prayer.  I found it easy to pray for my family and friends, but being a disciple of Christ means that we are called to love our enemies as ourselves and to freely forgive just as He did.

Yes, we are called to forgive everyone.  But sometimes I can be my own worst enemy.  I forget at times that I am called to be my brother’s keeper.  But I only need to look at the crucifix and I am reminded that Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24) Often I am filled with a renewed spirit in knowing that forgiveness and repentance is truly what the Lord desires of me and I must be obedient to His will just as He was obedient to God’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane.

As I recite the Lord’s Prayer, I am always reminded that we pass on the forgiveness that Jesus has given us by shedding His blood at Calvary.  We are called to forgive in the memory of Him. We forgive because He “first forgave us” (1 John 4:19).  Christ became the Suffering Servant as “He was pierced for our transgression. He was crushed for our inequities. The chastening fell upon him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:5) 

I pray that I can be like Abigail, a humble servant of God who stepped up to asking for forgiveness, as well as forgiving without hesitation, like Christ did as he hung upon the cross.