BITTERNESS OR FORGIVENESS?

BITTERNESS OR FORGIVENESS?

Matt 18:21-22

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

          I read several devotionals and blogs written by others. Every now and then I read one that is so good as to be shamelessly borrowed. Portions of today’s devotional is taken from an email from R. Dwight Hill who writes at info@factsofthematter.org .

          Wesley Stafford, President of Compassion International, shares his experience with bitterness and forgiveness:

“At age 17, I realized that those who hurt me would never apologize.  They weren’t  even sorry.  But I could no longer bear carrying the pain of my past, so I chose to forgive them anyway.  ‘Get out of my heart.  Get out of my head.  Get out of my life’ I remember saying.  ‘What you did to me will not define me.  You stole my childhood, but you cannot have the rest of my life.  Get out – I forgive you!’”

“Since then I’ve learned that while God always requires us to forgive, forgiveness isn’t saying that what happened was okay.  It doesn’t release someone from the consequences of their actions.  And it doesn’t require letting someone back into your life.  It does mean giving up the right to seek revenge. 

“So, here is my counsel to those who have suffered: if you have never been able to forgive, you are allowing the person who hurt you to live rent-free in your heart.  It’s costing them nothing and costing you everything.  Perhaps it’s time for you to evict him through forgiveness.”

          I wonder if it isn’t time for many of us to also forgive ourselves? Actions done in ignorance and attitudes long cast off as foolishness still haunt us. We have hurt people and they have forgiven us but we can’t forgive ourselves. We remain in the prison we ourselves have built awaiting a pardon that will never come. Perhaps today should be the day we nail those sins to Jesus’ cross and emerge from our self-imposed dungeon.

Dear Lord, I am not strong enough to maintain bitterness in my heart. I know that those who have hurt me may never say I’m sorry. It is even likely they can’t remember the hurt I carry day after day. Lord, today I release them and myself from the dungeon of my mind. AMEN