The process of forgiveness is not done in isolation. Not only do we need the support of good Christian friends, most importantly we need our Lord’s aid, counsel and direction. H. Norman Wright (cited by Brian Jones in Getting Rid of the Gorilla) likens this concept to a favorite childhood game:
“Forgiveness involves letting go. Remember playing tug-of-war as a child? As long as the parties on each end of the rope are tugging, you have a ‘war’. But when someone lets go, the war is over. When you forgive . . . , you are letting go of your end of the rope. . . . If you have released your end, the war is over for you.”
One of my favorite contemporary Christian songs, which I selected to be sung at my mom’s funeral, is “The Battle Belongs to the Lord” by Jamie Owens- Collins. Verse 2 is particularly appropriate here:
“When the power of darkness come in like a flood,
The battle belongs to the Lord.
He’s raised up a standard, the pow’r of His blood,
The battle belongs to the Lord.”
The song is based on Zechariah 4:6- “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”
