And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel. Learning to both receive and give forgiveness is at the heart of every relationship that matters. Receiving and giving forgiveness is not always an easy thing.
Accepting forgiveness is hard because we have a difficult time forgiving others. If we cannot always forgive someone else, how in the world will we recognize our own need for forgiveness and find the power to receive it?
I heard a pastor say that “if there is a worse thing than a marriage that ends in divorce, it is a divorce that never really becomes a true divorce.” A couple decides to divorce but for some reason, one of them, maybe the husband, cannot let go of the feelings, the anger. He continues to replay in his mind the hurts and frustrations. His everyday life is consumed with feelings of revenge. The anger eats away at him until he almost cannot function.
Anne Lamott wrote, “I went around saying for a long time that I am not one of the Christians who is heavily into forgiveness – that I am one of the other kind. But even though it was funny, and actually true, it started to be too painful to stay this way…in fact, not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die.”
Sometimes, when we have been hurt terribly by another person, we cherish resentment and bitterness because we are afraid that they will be the only feelings we have. We cling to the resentment, we hold fast to the bitterness, because we hope to hurt the one who has hurt us.
Jesus knows that a life built on forgiveness is a life that can begin again. A life lived with forgiveness is a life that can be set free from pain and sorrow.
We pray the Lord’s Prayer every week in worship to remind ourselves that we both need to be forgiven and we need to learn to forgive. It is not an easy task. Sometimes it is painfully difficult to practice. In the long run however, it leads to a way of life that is filled with grace and goodness.
Grace and peace to you,
-Glen
