Well, I’ve finally returned after a long absence. I have done this before. I’ve seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth and then returned. So keep in mind, in an ever-changing world, it’s good to know some things don’t change! In all seriousness, life has been very chaotic lately. Blogging had to be put on hold, but I’m happy to be back. I’m hopeful I can begin to consistently post blogs because that’s something I love to do.
It seems like forever ago now, but back in March I began
a series of blogs on lessons learned from 2020.
I did this because it was in March of 2020 when my world was turned
upside-down and backward as a result of covid-19. Of course, everyone’s way of life was
disrupted. So after two previous blogs, today
I want to conclude that blog series with another life lesson I learned.
It has been said that God is in the timing. This is true.
I wanted to write on this important topic for months, but I was
sidelined. In the interim, I saw an old
TV show that had a statement in it that will help introduce today’s subject
matter. In an episode of the TV show “Hazel” (1961-1966), Hazel Burke, the
Baxter family’s meddling, but well-intentioned maid was at it again. She counseled a friend of hers to confess to
an indiscretion, even though this person wasn’t even guilty of this. Hazel’s rationale was to take the blame for
it anyway, because as she put it: “People like forgiving other people. It gives them a sort of ‘holier than thou’
feeling.”
What a misunderstanding of forgiveness! Hazel may have had her heart in the right
place, but she was wrong on this one. A
person doesn’t forgive because they are saying, “Look at how good I am.” A person forgives because the alternative is
grim. If I hold on to unforgiveness, if
I choose to nurse a grudge, I’m really not hurting you; ultimately I’m only
hurting myself. Further, since I don’t
want bitterness to eat me up inside, I’m going to choose to grant
forgiveness.
One of the Mother’s Day gifts my mom received was an
excellent book by Margaret Feinberg.
It’s titled “More power to you: Declarations
to break free from fear and take back your life.” In one chapter, she tells a powerful story of
how she struggled with unforgiveness. I
love her honesty as she relays the details of that season. She writes,
“Refusing to forgive left me distrustful. My ire was doled out toward anyone who broke
the most innocent of promises. If you
said you’d bring a salad to dinner and forgot, I felt betrayed. If you promised to meet me at the movie
theater on the hour and arrived four minutes late, I felt you were out to get
me.”
She goes on to describe how she came upon the Bible’s
words in Matthew 18, where Jesus tells Peter that he must forgive not up to
seven times, as Peter had suggested, but seventy times seven (verse 21). “For me, forgiveness took root somewhere
between 372 and 379 times.” she states.
“I finally stopped counting, and forgiveness flooded the deep recesses
of my heart…I’m no longer eaten up by negativity and a lust for justice. What they did was wrong, and forgiving them
hasn’t made it right. But my soul is
healthy regardless of them.”
So, in conclusion, why am I bringing this subject matter
up? Because 2020 taught us that everyone
on Earth needs forgiveness. We can’t
live life, and we can’t have interpersonal relationships, without hurting
others along the way. I won’t take the
time for it today, but I could tell you about how I said something I later
regretted, so I had to go and apologize.
Forgiveness was extended to me, and it felt like a breath of fresh air
in my lungs. Further, I could tell you
incidents of how I was hurt by others, and I chose to forgive. Matthew West had it right in his song “forgiveness: “The prisoner that it
really frees is you.”
Kevin
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