Forgiveness

I’ve had occasion to spend time with a great many hard-hearted people in the course my life. In fact, I’ve even been one myself from time to time and I never cease to be amazed by the emotional walls folks are willing to build around themselves. Oh, they always blame it on someone else. “If you only knew what she said.” “If you only saw how they treated me.” The excuses are endless. Whatever they are, we find a reason to blame others for what happened between us. Then we chisel those words in stone and hang them permanently outside the door to our hearts. So it is that friendships wither, men and women get divorced, siblings drift apart, and countless children and parents become estranged. You know the story and you’ve seen it in your own circle of experience. Someone always seems to say something that ends up being “the last straw,” and one party walks out of the room, often out of the lives, of a loved one or family member. Over the course of time the gap grows wider, feelings turn to stone and we simply accept that those relationships will never be reconciled. Long after the original pain subsides, and we’ve drawn our lines in the sand, each side huddles within their battlements muttering to themselves, “I’ll be dammed is I’m giving in first.” So no one does, and that becomes the status quo. We must ask ourselves, however, “was it really worth it?” and “is that how I want it to be forever?” In many cases, a thoughtful answer really should be “no” and “no.” In the end, it all comes down to forgiveness. Are we able to forgive the other person, or persons, for their actions and swallow our pride long enough to ask forgiveness of them? Right now, your blood pressure is rising from just thinking about it, right? Each of us believes in our heart of hearts that our situation is utterly unique … and unforgivable. Well, when the thinking gets a little tricky in my own life, and I’m temped to rationalize, I like to look to the bible for answers. In the book of Matthew, Chapter 18, we find just such an answer: “Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”” Clearly, the point is to forgive completely and consistently. Jesus, of course, backs up His words by sacrificing his own life on the cross for the sins of all mankind. He forgave to the very point of death … and that is our example. Consequently, all this begs the question, “Are there people in our lives who require our forgiveness?” In some cases that answer may be glaring, even overwhelming. For some of us, it may take a little thought but there’s usually a relationship in need of repair. Either way, I leave you today the thought that our Lord has richly lavished us with forgiveness. If that is the case, then I submit that He requires the same of us. Go in God’s grace and try not to be stingy with it.

Forgiveness

How much must I endure, when push comes to shove

Is there a quota on patience, a limit to love

Seventy times seven, how much would that be

How much more has the Savior forgiven for me

When Jesus forgave me, He laid His life down

Forsaking His power, His pride and His crown

Indeed, He gave everything up, in His love

The King, whom I'm so very unworthy of

He forgave so much more than I ever could do

How much must I endure, how much must I go through

'Tis folly to ask with the answer so clear

With the loving embrace of my Savior so near

How much more is required for me to forgive

As long as I breathe, as long as I live

Jesus tells me that I have not given my all

For that is forgiveness, that is His call

I scream and I shake my fist up at the sky

That is too much to ask of a man, Lord, not I

You don't know how I've suffered or what they have done

I'll be dammed if I'll give in and show them they've won

Then a still, quiet voice wells up from inside

Wells up through the mire of my hatred and pride

And a vision of Jesus, in pain, on the cross

Overcomes me and I count my vain pride as loss

The tears start to flow as I fall to my knees

Begging show me forgiveness, teach me, Lord, please

And I see that forgiveness, if faithful and true

Isn't something you try, it is something you do

Have I injured another with my unkind words

Or have I been offended by what I have heard

I must go to my loved one, my brother, my friend

To forgive them and put our harsh words to an end

For as long as a brother remains unreconciled

My witness and love for my Lord are defiled

Seventy times seven, how much would that be

In the light of my Savior and eternity

How much must I endure, how long must I forgive

Until I am broken, and as long as I live

By Frank Carpenter ©