“Just forgive and forget.”
Well-meaning advice that is almost impossible to follow. How can I ‘forgive and forget’ when I’ve been
wronged? The hurt, the pain, the
injustice: I don’t deserve to be treated
like this, and I want the offending party to pay.
Peter asks Jesus for a formula on how to forgive. Instead, Jesus tells a parable that goes far
deeper -straight to the believer’s heart.
·
Forgive even when you are in the right.
·
Forgive when it’s hard.
·
Forgive as God has forgiven you.
·
Forgiveness is not optional for the Christian.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean accepting sinful behavior or
erasing a bitter memory. But it does
mean that we recognize that God first forgave us, when we didn’t come close to
deserving it. And when we forgive as he
forgave us, we will strengthen our ‘forgiveness muscles’ and we will grow in
faith, hope and love.
Lewis Smedes, author of many books, including “The Art of
Forgiving,” said it well: The only way
to heal the pain which will not heal itself is to forgive the person who hurt
you. Forgiveness heals the memory’s
vision…..You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was
you.”
Lord, forgive me when I am just like the ungrateful
servant. Fill me with your grace and
your love, so that I can share that love – and forgiveness – with others.
No comments:
Post a Comment