Today is the day after Thanksgiving and as I was scrolling around Twitter, I found that Stephen Jones tweeted out a link to a post by Al Andrews about the grace found in forgiveness.
Andrews uses two excellent examples in his writing. Both involving baseball. Both involving major mistakes that cost a team dearly.
You can read Andrews' thought-provoking post here.
It got me to thinking, what is it about our Western culture that makes it so difficult to forgive someone when they make a mistake?
It's not like we've never made one, right?
Witness Jesus' handling of the Pharisees who were about to stone a woman to death. He cut them to the quick by saying, "Let the one who has no sin toss the first stone."
And if we're a follower of Jesus, then we each have a marvelous example of being extended grace to be following God's Son in the first place. (What did the apostle Paul say about that? "By grace we have been saved.")
Even at the point of crucifixion, Jesus extended grace to the robber who simply asked Jesus to remember him when He got to heaven. (Jesus' reply was: "This day you shall be with me in paradise.")
Maybe we can't forgive because we're angry. Someone hurts us. Deeply. The wound stays open because we refuse the grace necessary to close it.
So we stay in a state of unforgiveness, letting the wound fester to the point where it becomes cancerous to our soul.
The irony, of course, is that we're only hurting ourselves.
Most often when someone hurts us and we take offense, refusing to forgive, the perpetrator has forgotten the incident long after it remains poisoning our memory.
It's like we are caught in a timewarp, with the incident recurring, each time, digging an emotional trench that is almost impossible to get out of.
Save grace.
That's the answer, of course, isn't it?
To grab hold of grace, regardless of how we feel, and choose to forgive?
No matter what.
I'm not, by any means, saying that it's easy.
But it begins with that decision: to say 'yes' to grace.
Then letting grace cleanse and close the wound. (By the way, you don't have to feel like forgiving to do it. The decision isn't based on feelings).
In the film "Old Fashioned," there's a brilliant scene where Amber (who is in a relationship with Clay) challenges him. Clay is basically stuck, unable to forgive himself for past offenses. But she is perfectly willing to extend grace.
In fact, towards the end of the film, Amber knocks on his front door and says, "I came here ready to forgive, no matter what.... isn't that the Good News?" (I should quickly mention that she sees a woman leaving Clay's home in the early morning, and for all intents and purposes, it looks like she's spent the night with him. So, Amber's offer of forgiveness has not come cheaply).
Amber is extending grace. It's a powerful scene because it's a powerful thing to do.
God wiped the slate clean when God forgave us.
Maybe today we can decide to follow that example.
Photo Credit: www.calmclarity.org
You can follow Stephen Jones on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jones_Stephen
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