Forgiveness

'Forgive us, Lord, as we forgive those who trespass against us,'

 

Sometimes that prayer, as beautiful as it is, has been written backward, or at the very least, the author has made a huge assumption.  I really think the directions should be more like, 'Dear Lord, please let us forgive each other the way that you forgive us'.'

 

You see, because the Lord is so much better at this business of forgiveness that we mere mortals could ever hope to be, we're the ones who should be modeling His method, not the other way around.  The Lord forgives us unconditionally.  He doesn't need to sit and think it over, withholding His compassion, His mercy, and His grace.  He doesn't cling to his grudges, like we do, reliving them daily, reminding himself how He was hurt or cheated, or disappointed by someone as frail and flawed as we are.  He forgives and wipes the slate clean.  That is true forgiveness, the pure, ideal spirit of amnesty we must try to extend toward each other.

 

Everyone in this world is walking around, chewing on something that just won't go down.

 

It's a rate person who does not carry around some grudge, small or large, some onerous bit that won't go down.  But how many of us find that as we approach middle life and ever later, we are carrying around a load of grudges, like a big bag of rocks, slung over our shoulder.  The wrongs the world has done you - parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, neighbors - oh, so many wrongs that we righteously cling to.  It takes a lot of energy to carry that bag around with you, doesn't it?  It doesn't really make much sense, either. . . .So, why do we do it?  We drag it along, letting it pull us down when we can be lifted up.  When we can follow the Lord's example and forgive - and let go.

 

From the book 'Home Song' by Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer