Forgiveness seems to be my topic de jour. More and more I come to recognize that it is not just something Christians do, it is absolutely central to being Christian!
“Father, forgive them…” The first words uttered by Jesus after His scourged body was nailed to the cross. I’ve been pondering that…. and its meaning.
Keeping with this theme of forgiveness, here is an open letter I wrote to an “adopted” child:
An open letter to my child. To find peace, you must forgive.
My darling child,
You are deeply troubled. You feel the world closing in on you and you feel you are a failure. You are not.
You are in anguish. So many things are not going well for you right now. And things past continue to burden your heart. You must find peace in your heart and mind to go on.
My child, you feel rejected. You despair. But there are so many, many blessings in your life. You know this, yet you cannot enjoy these blessing because you are so full of uncertainty and anguish.
You asked me to pray for you, and I have done just that. This morning, I knelt in the sanctuary of my church, seeking guidance. And through the Holy Spirit, Jesus has responded.
As I was coming home, I tuned to a radio station I seldom listen to. The message was from Ephesians, and I quote a portion of it here:
|
13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
|
My child, the past is done. It cannot be changed or undone. You must confront your own heart. You must unburden yourself of the pain and anguish, of the guilt you harbor although you are guiltless.
Child, you must forgive those who have brought this pain to you… forgive finally and completely.
Child, I know that confrontation does not come easily to you. You are gentle and caring and loving of heart. But the anguish you feel has caused you to build walls that must come down. And to do this you must accept, fully, the help of the Holy Spirit, brought to you as a gift from Christ Jesus. You must forgive, repent for the void of love in your heart.
For the one nearest you, the one who has sought forgiveness, express it openly, and with the love that is in your heart.
For the others who have hurt you so deeply, forgive them in your heart. Unburden your heart once and for all, completely. For those who have not sought your forgiveness, you need not express it to them. To them, it would be hollow. But to God, through Christ Jesus and the power of the Spirit, free your heart of this pain.
My child, until you forgive, fully and without reservation, you will not feel the forgiveness of God, even though you have been forgiven. It will not be easy. But this is something you must do.
Dear child, this forgiveness will not release you from the other burdens you carry. But it will free you to address them with God’s assistance.
I turn to a long neglected, but favored book from my past on Zen. “Peace of mind is not at all superficial really. It is the whole thing.” If you do not have peace of mind, and of heart, as you address these other difficulties in your life, child, you will just build those past problems into everything else. Lay them at Jesus’ feet. His shoulders are broad. His burden light. He will carry this burden for you.
Child, as a father loves his children, I love you. Just as your Father in heaven loves you.
You live always in my prayers and in my heart, child.
Find solace, shalom in that.
With the love of a father,
Art
4hispraise
Amanda Beth
adopted80
aliveintheword
Bro Stef
debradoo
Golden Gems from Grandma
faithfull4him
Ula
meetingintheclouds
Helen Murray
mtsweat
Ang blogger daw na si Iska
rickroehm
Steven Sawyer
What a beautiful letter to your “child”. As I read through the paragraphs, I kept envisioning a debri blockage in the creek behind my house this past winter. It prevented a free flow of water and thus collected a lot of “garbage” on the upstream side of the blockage. Then some spring rainstorms came, the blockage was broken down, and all the garbage washed away, leaving only fresh, gurgling, life-giving water. This is exactly how I have felt, especially during the past Lenten Season, when I totally let go of old resentments and hurts! What a rush of the Water of Life, the LIving Water, flooded my own soul.
Pingback: Having a Spirit of forgiveness « Vine and Branch World Ministries
Reblogged this on Forgive Seventy Times Seven.
Pingback: All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future. « Transcendent Vestige
Pingback: All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future. | Barbier Family Blog
Pingback: All we can do is learn from our past and work in the present to make a better future. | One Lifetime
I have found that forgiveness is in reality a somewhat selfish act, because the forgiver receives more benefit than the forgiven.
I pray that many, many young people (I am including the readers of Teen Blogs) will read this very loving blog by Art. That they who do not have a father to guide them aright, will find some words of wisdom here and find their Father in heaven to help them through their life’s journey. That as they forgive they will be forgiven and that they will find that they were loved even before they found Him whom to know is victory over all bondage, with life everlasting and abundant.
Great post Art, thank you. Yes forgiveness is a choice and sometimes a hard one. What matters is making the choice to forgive. Corrie Ten Boom comes to mind in the story she tells of having to forgive one of her captors after meeting him again after a speech she gave on forgiveness! Ouch…
I do not know if this is reality for you, but it is for me. While the last time I saw my oldest she was three. All her hurt and anger stems from what people have told her, and how she felt about that.
People talk about the process of forgiveness, but having lived this stuff I can say that forgiveness is instantaneous, and a choice you have to make.
A person has to make the choice to not play God, invoking their own personal punishment upon the other.
The “offended”, and yes, I thought I was one, demands payment, but the problem here is that the offender may not even realize that they created an offense.
Some people have rudeness built right in, and like a psychopathic killer, they do not feel a thing, only desiring the attention they gained. They were not thinking about the damage they would permanently make.
If there is a process to it, it is reminding yourself, frequently for a while, that you chose to let them off your hook.
As one person said, “I distinctly remember choosing to forget that.”
Some people are simply not safe, and no one demands that you hang out with those people. If you have to get away or call the police, but remember, you are not God; leave the judging to him.
Making that instantaneous decision to release these offenders from your grasp may be the hardest and most freeing thing you have ever done.
Don’t take this personal. I have no idea where life has taken you, but I wrote what I believe I was supposed to. I think you understand.
God bless
Oz
Oz, thank you for your wonderful, open testimony. I can certainly relate to all that you’ve said having experienced much the same thing.
April 6, 2008 was a day that turned my life around. among other things, I read Heb 12:15 on forgiveness and harboring the bitter root. She Spirit wacked me aside the head with a 2×4 and essentially said “Did you heat that? I’m talking to YOU!” Great burdens were lifted immediately as I gave a “general forgiveness” that had burdened me for decades. I made lists, gave specific forgiveness. Tos some, I contacted them. Others… well, there was no way or they wouldn’t have cared one way or another.
It was an amazing transformation. It was nearly instantaneous.
And it was a CHOICE!
Shalom, Art
What a heartfelt and tender reminder. Why is it that when we get old (er) we think more about this stuff. Perhaps because we have been forgiven so many times and we have felt and seen the release found by others. Would that we could just put it in a bottle and take it daily pre-emptively so we would not have to agonize over the next outcropping. or we could just lend it “as needed”
Thanks, Milt. A bit of seasoning isn’t all that bad, is it? Now, when it happens in the knees, tha’s different.
Shalom