© by Joyce C. Lock
When someone has made a slight blunder and their sincere remorse has been made known, it isn't all that hard to forgive. We pat ourselves on the back and think we did good.
When severely wounded, we tend to embrace the hurt for awhile, play the role of a martyr (being righteous in our own eyes), make them suffer a little ... then maybe we'll forgive. Now we're really good Christians, huh?
Then comes the wound so severe that life will never be the same. They neither seek or deserve forgiveness. Nor are they sorry at all.
There is no cover in which to hide feelings of betrayal, anger, grief, bitterness ... emotions raging so strong they eat your insides away.
Only then can we begin to understand that forgiveness is even more necessary for our survival than theirs, not always because they deserve it, but because we do. And in such case, we can know the blessed peace of (for) giving in a depth few have known.
God's way is always in our best interest, Co. 3.
Go on to: To Be Thankful
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Return to: Christian Living Articles
The
purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate,
and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through
Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord
require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your
God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or
crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the
standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for
the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not
Christian.