Tuesday, March 17, 2015
A Reflection on Forgiveness from Pr. Marilyn Miller
Up
until the end of His journey, Jesus was offering forgiveness to those who loved
him as well as those who hurt him. We
are called to do the same. But, we often
have a hard time forgiving those who hurt us and sometimes even those who love
us. Those who have worked at this for a
while understand that forgiveness is for both the forgiver and the forgiven,
not just for the one who offended or wounded.
If you can’t forgive others, the wounding of your soul happens over and
over again, until you release it. And if
you don’t release it, it eats you up inside and can make you a bitter and angry
person. This bitterness and anger can
block your blessings for a season or a lifetime.
Many
of you know Reformation has had a pretty challenging experience with the sale
of our church home and then leasing it for a short period of time until we
could relocate. We have been wounded
over and over again throughout this experience.
As the pastor of this congregation, I have had to surrender my pain over
and over again, just to be present with those who perpetrated these
wounds. This was quite difficult, but as
a leader, I know it is important that I follow God’s lead in dealing with harm
in a way that has integrity and liberation for me, no matter what the other
party does.
In my
mind, I thought about all kinds of terrible punishments and said all kinds of
terrible things. I had to ask God for
forgiveness over and over again. God has
reassured me of this forgiveness.
Therefore, I am called to offer nothing less. Thank God, that even until our last day, like
the thief on the cross, we can ask for forgiveness and offer it to others as
well.
Dear
God, thank you for the forgiveness of my sins, known and unknown. Forgive me
for my unwillingness to forgive others.
Transform my heart to be like Christ’s, so I can be forgiving, too. Amen
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