FORGIVE, AND LET LIVE

FORGIVE, AND LET LIVE

Eileen Renders

In the Lord’s prayer, we have been taught to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us, and lead us not into temptation….” I believe we truly want to forgive and to be forgiven, yet there are often those times when we actually want to fight to be right. Therefore, rather than forgiving the one who has offended us, we seem to get stuck in that old trap that Satan sets up for us. We go around and around in our heads and claim out loud, “I forgive them, but I expect an apology. I am not going out of my way to speak to them because I was right and they were wrong.”

Aren’t we happy God did not take that attitude when forgiving each one of us for our sins? Why would we care more about being righteous than showing love and mercy to someone who hurt our feelings? Could it be that our forgiveness is not sincere, and comes with many conditions in order to satisfy our pride?

Did Jesus not accept the pain and suffering of all our sins out of love and forgiveness? Of course, we are not Jesus. Although we might, when we are hurt, realize that although we believe we “were in the right”, they too may be having that same reaction as their feelings are also injured.

Only when our offender continues to knowingly hurt us in the same way, time and time again, should we forgive and walk away. We need not allow ourselves to be abused. We can forgive, pray for them, but remain distant. As a young adult, I did not quite understand how you could forgive someone and keep a safe distance and pray for them. Sometimes, forgiving another person is just that: forgive and let go of that association. Throughout a lifetime, we may even find there is a person that we love deeply, but that love is not returned. It was not a positive or compatible relationship. There are people we love today, or those, such as our parents, that we loved deeply, yet they have passed away. We must go on, and in time, God will call us also to come home.