If you remember a while back, I did a lesson on what to learn from the mistakes of Peter, and formed it into a personal acronym for my use- BLEST HOW? FAVA. This morning while I let Misty run at the Bark Park, I tried praying through it- sadly, for the first time in a couple weeks- and found I couldn't get the L to come to mind, no matter how hard I tried.
So I just went on to pray the rest of it, and when I hit the F- "forgive as you have been forgiven"- I listened as God reminded me that there is a deeper depth to that statement than we usually think about. When Jesus forgave us, He forgave the "whole" us- Our situation with Him; our attitudes on life that were contrary to His; the things we had experienced that shaped our personality at the time; not just our sin, but WHO WE WERE in that moment, and who we ARE in this moment, and who we will be in the end. He didn't just say, "Here's a pile of sins, they are written off". He said, just as you are, without any plea, I forgive you."
And THAT'S how we are to forgive others. We need to think about what made them the person that sinned against us and God, consider that there is a lot of human being in there that is going into the person you are trying to forgive. When you see the whole person you are trying to forgive, you have a better shot at forgiving them- especially forgiving them in the way that you were forgiven.
And that L I couldn't remember? LISTEN.
Forgiveness is something too many have a problem with, not me I hope I can, usually I can be quick to forgive because forgiveness is about me not you if that makes anysense.
ReplyDeletePerfect sense. You GET it.
DeleteI am quick to forgive, and can usually move past things. And when I can't move past them, I do my best to forgive them and move on from them, because I really try hard to avoid the negativity. I rarely forget things though, which is a blessing and a curse, because despite the forgiveness, it's often hard to look someone in the eye everyday and believe that they've changed.
ReplyDeleteThe key, I am learning, is to forgive as Jesus did, on the cross, while being insulted and spat upon, knowing that only one or two of those being forgiven would ever appreciate it.
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