forgiving is hard. its not implanted in us to give it or ask for it or be impressed by it. i remember fighting with lakyn, my little sister, when we were young; we would always have to apologize if we were caught fighting by our parents. i made her cry way more than my parents knew by the way. but i also remember it being just as hard to give forgiveness than to say i was sorry. Lakyn was ready to forgive, but me, i gave lip service to the word through gritted teeth and plans stewing in my vengful little brain as to how to get my cute little sister back for whatever she did.
Jesus was such a disciplined forgiver that it was a part of his character. God, when proclaiming his name to moses says, "the LORD, the LORD... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." It was a part of his name, an attribute of his divinity, a description of his self. i'm always intrigued by how many psalms are devoted to forgiveness. they wrote it in their songs. what a beautiful picture...
i wonder whats written in our songs? i wonder if our lives sing of revenge or mercy? do we sing out grudges or love? do we beat the drum reminding everyone where they've wronged us or do we play the strings of forgiveness? what do you sing?
forgiveness is releasing someone to rebuild whats broken. and much of the time its hard. its hard to repair things, but its such a beautiful song.
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5 comments:
Austin,
I was asking similar questions just a few days ago. Paul writes something so peculiar in II Corinthians 2:10, "Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive." It challenged me, so I simply placed a note on my computer that says, "Are we creating a culture of forgiveness?" Maybe another question might be, "Is my ability to forgive expanding others abilities to forgive?"
nice... a lot of things lately go back to the idea of building rather than tearing down. i really like the thought that maybe my forgiving can help another find the strength and grace to do the same.
yes.
There was a time when I was very opposed to apologizing...let me explain, I was at a point where i would rather someone not do the same thing again, than to just say a "I'm Sorry."
Rather, it is a plea for forgiveness. Actively seeking forgiveness is much more dificult than to throw out a simple phrase...
I love the concept of forgiveness as being a part of our song.
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