To Err is Human...

Have you ever been hurt...embarrassed...made fun of...made to feel unimportant??? Has anyone ever said or done something that caused you to be upset with them?  

I'm pretty sure all of you reading this answered both of those questions affirmatively which means that all of you have been put in the position to forgive someone as well. Webster's dictionary defines the word 'forgive' as "to cease to feel resentment for."  That's kinda deep, even for a dictionary I have to say.  Forgiveness is an important aspect of relationships today. If you can not forgive the ones that wrong you, especially those that you love, then where do you expect the relationship to end up?  Here, I'll share a bit of my own personal story with you. Someone who years ago was very very close to me did some things that really hurt me. For a long time, I was bitter and resentful towards the person and in some aspects, in my heart I know I had come to loathe their very being. For a while the person was not in my life and a few years ago I had the opportunity to reconnect with them. In hindsight, I realize that my inability to forgive them did not allow me to see things from their perspective or even allow them the opportunity to try to reconnect with me.  True the person did some really foul stuff and it was the deepest act of betrayal that I've ever experienced in my life, but by my harboring anger and resentment against them for so long, I was unable to see that they suffered from what they did to me as well. Of course, they'll probably never understand the true extent to which they hurt me, but the fact that they had to carry around that guilt for years and years and years without me even offering them my forgiveness or at one point saying that I forgive them and still being bitter towards them--well, I'm sure it made things harder for them.  The person & I are no longer on speaking terms, which I don't regret, but I do regret not truly forgiving them the way that I should I have.

While it's true that forgiveness takes time, it's also true that people are human.  People, no matter who they are--close or not close, or going to make mistakes and they are going to do things that we don't like; but we have the power to either forgive them and release them from a cycle of guilt or not forgive them and further induce the sentence that they have probably placed on themselves.  Since, people are human, it is only natural to assume that most people when they mess up are aware that they mess up and that if they are not they become aware of it through it.  As such, it is also correct to assume that since the person is fully aware that the have messed up---if they come to you and ask for your forgiveness and you don't give it to them you are sending them a message, that "you messed up and I'm going to show you better than I can tell you that you messed up."  I don't know how that may sound to you, but to me it sounds a bit vindictive...I mean when someone genuinely comes to you asking you for your forgiveness and letting you know that they know that they messed up, shouldn't you forgive them?  Aside from not forgiving the next worst thing that you can do is tell the person that you forgive them and then keep bringing up the very thing that they did wrong.  It's almost like you're forgetting the fact that 1. they are human and 2. they are already well aware (much more than you may think they know) that they messed up.  

I know forgiveness is a hard pill to swallow and I know that in our "human" minds we are more apt to hold a grudge, but as believers in Christ we are called to forgive.  When Peter asked Jesus if he should only forgive his brethren seven times, Jesus answered him: "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21-22, KJV).  That's 490 times that Jesus told Peter to forgive his brethren--now c'mon seriously how many of you can say that someone has wronged you THAT many times and so you are done forgiving them?  *waits for hands to raise* My guess, is none of you and in that case, you should forgive them who are asking for your forgiveness and even those who don't ask for it because forgiving them may be the door to opening a door to a better future with them and blossoming in a relationship that you never could've otherwise. 

In closing, I want you guys to remember this---to err is human, to forgive.....divine...think about that!