Forgiveness

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A big part of Lent is self-examination. We need to examine ourselves to uncover those sins we have committed and are committing that we tend to hide from others and, even more, that we hide from ourselves. One of those sins that seems to hang on, beneath the surface and undetected, is unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness is like a cancer. It starts small, but grows and metastasizes, infecting more and more of our lives. Unforgiveness does not necessarily hurt the one whom we refuse to forgive, though it can, it always hurts us. Unforgiveness rears it’s ugly head in many ways: a critical spirit, depression, and the lack of an ability for intimacy, among others. It eats away at our joy and even interferes with our relationship with God.

The first step to forgiveness is seeking forgiveness from God. The second is to ask God to help you develop a sense of empathy for the one who hurt you. You need to be able to see them from God’s perspective. Believe it or not, God loves them, and you, in spite of sin. His heart is a heart of forgiveness. Oftentimes the motives we attribute to those who have hurt us are not the actual motives. They acted out of ignorance or out of their own brokenness and pain. Now, this is not making excuses, but it is gaining a healthier perspective from which you can choose to say, “I forgive. I release you from responsibility. I am turning over my pain to our Lord, who suffered for us all.”

Is there hidden brokenness in you? Have you been hurt by someone? Do you need to cross the great divide of forgiveness? Turn to the Lord. Forgiveness is his business.