Receiving And Giving Forgiveness

I am not perfect and I have committed many mistakes in my life. Some mistakes have made me stronger. Others have made me wiser. Still others have made me more understanding and accepting of others knowing that I have failed or disappointed others as well. Some of my failures and mistakes, I have been committed maliciously. And for these I am truly sorry.

Knowing that I can receive and have in fact received forgiveness frees me from having to carry all the baggage of the past along my journey in life. I keep the lessons I have learned and I leave the baggage and the trash behind. Then I am able to travel light.

If I have been forgiven, I must also learn to forgive. Sometimes, the hurt or the disappointment I have experienced can be so intense, I nurse it. I won’t and can’t let go and forgive others. It is during such times that I keep myself and others imprisoned in the my unforgiving. I need to break out of such imprisonment.

It is in pardoning that I am pardoned. I ask for forgiveness. I should be ready to give it. When I say the words, “I forgive.” then I must forget the hurt and leave it behind. My words must be matched by my action.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord, in the land of the living.
~ Psalm 115

After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.
And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
“Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”
At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,
“This man is blaspheming.”
Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,
“Why do you harbor evil thoughts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man
has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he then said to the paralytic,
“Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
He rose and went home.
When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe
and glorified God who had given such authority to men.
Matthew 9:1-8