“Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.”- Proverbs 10:12
As Sara Horn continues Chapter 1 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, she observes that when we allow hard feelings to fester and don’t resolve them, they build to distracting crescendos in our brain. We know that we must deal with conflict, at least within ourselves. Yet, Sara states, “knowing and doing can sometimes feel like trying to jump over the Grand Canyon.”
“Doing” becomes more difficult when those responsible for our ministry downsizing or vocation loss perceive that we are the only ones who have a problem. From their perspective, the situation is a non-issue. They’ve moved on. They’re not part of the conversation.
People are complicated- and we cannot control them. As Sara emphasizes, forgiveness is a process that begins with us:
“But for a lot of us, saying ‘I’m sorry” or deciding to no longer hold a grudge toward someone or something is just the beginning of what has to happen when we’re talking about forgiveness.”
As Sara concludes, forgiveness isn’t just ignoring bad behavior or acting like we don’t see or care. Sara cites pastor and author Tony Evans:
“[forgiveness isn’t] pretending like it didn’t happen or like it didn’t hurt. That’s called lying. Forgiveness is a decision to release a debt regardless of how your feel.”
Today’s question: What has been foundational in helping you initiate the process of forgiveness? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the Annotated Bibliography of Soul Keeping
