Forgiveness
When we pray the "Lord's Prayer" there is one phrase of the prayer which is conditional.
"And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us"
Forgiveness is one of the more difficult aspects of the human condition yet it is also one of the most important. From childhood on there have been many times that I have struggled with this issue. When I was little I often heard "forgive and forget". I think that I actually thought this was biblical and had a especially difficult time with the forget part. I think a better phrase would be "forgive and learn".
I believe that a huge percentage of the world's problems are directly related to our ability or willingness to forgive. The death penalty continues because we are unwilling to forgive. Wars are fought because we seek revenge. Many murders are committed because of an unwillingness to forgive.
Little Rock's murder rate has been higher this year than it has in years. Most of them are drug and gang related. I think there is a side factor here -- forgiveness. Your gang member sold drugs on our turf so we are going to kill your gang member. Your gang killed a member of our gang and we are going to kill a member of your gang. So much violence is done in the name of revenge. Revenge is primarily an unwillingness to forgive.
I am not saying "forgive and roll over dead" I have a friend that was very annoying on almost every visit so we asked him not to come back or to call anymore. His feelings were quite hurt and he proceeded to call virtually non-stop. One day he even called over 50 times. We turned off the ringer on the phone and let voice mail do the rest. After a week of this behavior and dozens of threatening calls, we went to the police station and filed a report. We then took it to the prosecuting attorneys office and requested a "no-contact order" He followed this for over a week but left a name calling message this morning. If he continues to do this I will file another police report and go back to the prosecutor. I understand his hurt feelings and his lack of proper training in basic civility. I don't really have to much trouble with forgiving him because I know that he is the way he is. I will not allow him to continue to harrass if I can help it. I don't want him to go to jail but if the authorities take it to that level then maybe he will learn.
There have been other times when I have had much more difficult issues with forgiveness and rarely do I forgive instantly. When I feel I have been hurt or harmed, I do try to see the event through the eyes of the person that I feel has offended me. Sometimes I think they are just downright MEAN but usually I find that they are just insensative or not thinking. Sometimes their behavior is a matter of addiction or mental instability.
After the terrorist attacks on 9-11 there was a need to defend. I fully agree that we need to increase security. I was even in favor of our invasion of Afghanistan so that we could put those behind the attacks out of business. I feel much differently about Iraq. I think that our invasion of Iraq is a combination of greed, grasping for political might and a big dose of revenge.
Israel and Lebanon and the Palestinians are certianly concerned about there own interests and welfare, which is understandable. But the turmoil in the Middle East will never end as long as either side feels that they should retaliate instead of seeking forgiveness and negotiation.
Forgive us as we forgive ---- I fear that many of us may not be as forgiven as we would like if we truly mean what we pray.
Lord, please help us to be more forgiving and understanding and if we are less than perfect in our forgiveness may we be made perfect through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
When we pray the "Lord's Prayer" there is one phrase of the prayer which is conditional.
"And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us"
Forgiveness is one of the more difficult aspects of the human condition yet it is also one of the most important. From childhood on there have been many times that I have struggled with this issue. When I was little I often heard "forgive and forget". I think that I actually thought this was biblical and had a especially difficult time with the forget part. I think a better phrase would be "forgive and learn".
I believe that a huge percentage of the world's problems are directly related to our ability or willingness to forgive. The death penalty continues because we are unwilling to forgive. Wars are fought because we seek revenge. Many murders are committed because of an unwillingness to forgive.
Little Rock's murder rate has been higher this year than it has in years. Most of them are drug and gang related. I think there is a side factor here -- forgiveness. Your gang member sold drugs on our turf so we are going to kill your gang member. Your gang killed a member of our gang and we are going to kill a member of your gang. So much violence is done in the name of revenge. Revenge is primarily an unwillingness to forgive.
I am not saying "forgive and roll over dead" I have a friend that was very annoying on almost every visit so we asked him not to come back or to call anymore. His feelings were quite hurt and he proceeded to call virtually non-stop. One day he even called over 50 times. We turned off the ringer on the phone and let voice mail do the rest. After a week of this behavior and dozens of threatening calls, we went to the police station and filed a report. We then took it to the prosecuting attorneys office and requested a "no-contact order" He followed this for over a week but left a name calling message this morning. If he continues to do this I will file another police report and go back to the prosecutor. I understand his hurt feelings and his lack of proper training in basic civility. I don't really have to much trouble with forgiving him because I know that he is the way he is. I will not allow him to continue to harrass if I can help it. I don't want him to go to jail but if the authorities take it to that level then maybe he will learn.
There have been other times when I have had much more difficult issues with forgiveness and rarely do I forgive instantly. When I feel I have been hurt or harmed, I do try to see the event through the eyes of the person that I feel has offended me. Sometimes I think they are just downright MEAN but usually I find that they are just insensative or not thinking. Sometimes their behavior is a matter of addiction or mental instability.
After the terrorist attacks on 9-11 there was a need to defend. I fully agree that we need to increase security. I was even in favor of our invasion of Afghanistan so that we could put those behind the attacks out of business. I feel much differently about Iraq. I think that our invasion of Iraq is a combination of greed, grasping for political might and a big dose of revenge.
Israel and Lebanon and the Palestinians are certianly concerned about there own interests and welfare, which is understandable. But the turmoil in the Middle East will never end as long as either side feels that they should retaliate instead of seeking forgiveness and negotiation.
Forgive us as we forgive ---- I fear that many of us may not be as forgiven as we would like if we truly mean what we pray.
Lord, please help us to be more forgiving and understanding and if we are less than perfect in our forgiveness may we be made perfect through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
posted by Conrad at 12:29 PM
1 Comments:
Nice post Conrad. And so true! I've often wondered if people actually think about what those words (and others) mean in the Lord's Prayer.
Hopefully we are forgiven more than we forgive. Otherwise a lot of us (me) are in BIG trouble.
The importance of that line to me, though, is that people who recognize that they are already forgiven (by God) should be much more willing to forgive others.
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