Even when it’s not ‘political’…
My mom ascribed the word politics/political to the concept that there’s more than what meets the eye…
Perhaps we can think ‘politics’ when we perceive rudeness (maybe their dog died, maybe they were busy…). But sometimes there won’t be excusable (in people’s minds, rather than God’s) reasons for ill behavior. We might not always be able to rationalize sin away. And even what seems excusable in a person’s mind doesn’t mean the action wasn’t sinful.
Forgiveness should happen even when one’s behavior cannot be clearly rationalized or excused.
I hope one day I can better understand what exactly forgiveness is…I think I once saw it as ‘not remembering’ vs. ‘forgetting’… ‘Not remembering’ is like not constantly bringing s.t. up…
Maybe forgiveness is not holding a grudge or holding the sin against someone or keeping the thing in mind alot. Letting go. If one says “I forgive you,” or “It’s okay”, can these things be kept in mind? It doesn’t mean “I’m not bothered” or “I don’t care” or “it doesn’t hurt”…
And then how can one not dwell on the things? Through prayer and thinking about the verses in Philippians that say to think about whatever is good, honorable, etc.?
There’s something in Christianity about taking the hit…turn the other cheek, give the person 2 coats if he takes one (am I remembering that right?), we’re supposed to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us…
I know the proper answer would be that Christ could give us strength to endure and forgive or let go. The proper answer would be too look to Christ when thoughts afflict. The proper answer would be to really surrender oneself to Christ.
But I think often the proper answers in life don’t match up to my practical life. Why don’t I act as though I were crucified with Christ and that it is Christ who lives in me?
God please crucify my flesh and live in me….forgive me of my sin, and make me not dwell on what I should not. Make me follow you…forgive me and give me the power to live for you….thank you….
I was thinking of this the other day after I commented on that post on Boundless concerning Letting go of the Past…
From my experiences with forgiveness, it most certainly isn’t a momentary act or a feeling. It is certainly and action that requires some discipline in acting out.
Purposely forgetting vs simply forgetting. More like forgetting the secret about one of your friends that you overheard in the ladie’s room vs forgetting where you put the keys.
As I thought about it the other day, I realized that God kinda doesn’t have the same problem as us (duh). For us, some offenses may take years for us to completely forgive someone for. For God, even though any offense hurts him a thousand times more than it hurts us, he can condense an eternity’s worth of forgiving into a single, infintesimal moment – because he’s God…and so much bigger than space and time that he’s capable of that.
I think that out of all the things that we have been commanded to do, forgiveness most resembles love. The discipline and daily, hourly, minutely decision to love and forgive are very similar.
Christina
January 14, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I need to practically learn forgiveness/grace/letting go, etc…
It would be convenient if life lessons were always easy, but that’s not the case……
Rachael
January 15, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I like to think of the story of the man forgiving his servant of the HUGE debt. After that, that servant went and threatened another servant who owed HIM a tiny amount, comparatively. Jesus used this to convey how we need to forgive. We “owe” God HUGELY–our using the word “fool” is enough to cast us into hell. He has forgiven us HUGELY. We don’t even have a clue how much. So whatever man does to us, in comparison it is short and minor. We must forgive. We may not know why, but we must because He said to. It helps me to think of this comparison, when I cannot be convinced of my need to forgive. Also, I have tried to think of where it says he who is forgiven little, loves little. Conversely, he who is forgiven much, loves much. If I remember I am forgiven much, I love Christ more.
Ann
January 20, 2009 at 9:07 am