Forgiveness

 

Hurt people hurt people. So they say. We spend a lot of time in this life both wounding and being wounded. Sometimes we mean it, but other times it's just so much collateral damage that occurs every day of our lives.

We all deal with it differently. Some of us lash out, others go inward and create resentment and bitterness that grows anger in our hearts. Sometimes we try and ignore it or minimize it like it wasn't a big deal.

And yet none of this seems particularly healthy. We may self-medicate as a way to address our own hurts or to forget the mean and nasty stuff we've done. But even that creates a bigger hole of hurt that left untended can grow like a cancer.

Jesus seemed to know all of this very well. He made it clear that none of it is acceptable. What is more, He created a better way for us to take care of it. It's non-optional. In the economy of hurt, we either find ourselves in debt or as a lender. The coin of this realm is forgiveness.

He even draws this concept out in a story He tells His followers about a King who is cheated out of an enormous amount by one of his servants, who then falls on his knees and pleads for his debt to be forgiven. The King has mercy on the servant who then proceeds to choke another servant out for failing to pay him a much smaller amount. In the end, the King catches wind of this and throws the first servant in prison. 

It is amazing how relevant this story is 2000 years later. We all fail at times to recognize the King is on the throne and has offered us redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins. And in turn, we take the throne ourselves only to proceed to render our own human judgments. Sadly, it just puts us back in prison. 

"For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses." 

Matthew 6:14-15