How to Follow Christ – Forgivingness – Receiving It

Greetings Dear Reader,

My younger Son, Bezel once said to me; “My biggest problem with forgiveness is how do you forgive yourself?”  For some people that is a more difficult task than others.  For me there are more difficult wrongs than others.  I think that the answer lies in how I view my own failures.

I have talked about our need for forgiveness and our need to give it.  Like the giving and seeking of forgiveness receiving it takes humility.  When I seek forgiveness from God I must accept that my wrong is pardoned.  This does not mean that there will not be ongoing consequences. 

It is, however, vital that I realize that to hang on to guilt and shame is to hinder my potential to do good out of my failures.  It takes humility to accept that I am forgiven just as much as it does to accept my need for it.  It is out of this brokenness that God wishes to mold a heart that he can use to love others.  In those moments is when I need to see that no matter how others feel about me I am forgiven by God.

That same humility must work in me to show those I have wronged that I admit my need for man’s forgiveness as well.  Those who have been hurt by my failures need to forgive me for their own wellbeing.  I cannot for a moment think that I deserve it.  When they do, however, give it, I must accept it with gratitude and meekness. 

I have seen the power of forgiveness that is mutual and genuine.  I cannot afford to hold on to anything I have against someone else.  I need forgiveness too much not to give it.  I know I let past failures hold me back in some ways.  There are places where I have not forgiven myself for what I have done.  There are places where I have accepted that I am forgiven by God but others have not truly forgiven me.  There are things I have done that I will never get over.  I can only keep following and hoping that as I do forgiveness to and from others becomes habitual.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."