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Forgive...

             Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8)

 

Yeah, this would have to be the verse of the day. In the past week to ten days, I’ve been working on forgiving some people and I think I’ve been doing half-decently at it. My policy has been that whenever I start getting angry or hurt, I pray for their well-being and blessing. But it cannot escape my notice that there’s no reciprocation. I should be used to this, because this isn’t the first, or even the fifth time it’s happened. People decide I’m something to scrape off their shoes. It doesn’t help that someone else said something in my hearing on another subject and I’m grinding my teeth about that, too.

Forgiveness isn’t (necessarily) easy. And it’s even harder when you’re the person you need to forgive. Bearing with other people seems like a burden I just don’t want to shoulder. Enduring someone else’s hatred (and don’t let them fool you when they lie and say it’s just “dislike”) is difficult. And yet - this is precisely the sort of thing Jesus had to endure. They didn’t like what He said, so they conspired against Him and crucified Him - and they thought they were doing their nation (and probably God) a favor. If He learned obedience through suffering, can we who have been, are, and will be disobedient expect to avoid the lessons?

I’m not looking for pity. I’m not looking for anyone to take my side against someone. I’m not going to gossip and share details; I’ll delete any comment that attempts to supply details or defend anyone’s perspective. That’s not why I’m sharing this. I’m sharing it because forgiveness is probably the toughest lesson we need to learn - but it’s not an elective course. 

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