The Ability to Forgive

Forgiveness. That word's got a nice little ring to it. It's got a nice meaning to it as well, if you ask me. Sometimes I feel so undeserving of forgiveness, and then I remember that I am, in fact, not worthy of anything. Much less forgiveness. Jesus Christ did not have to die on that cross for me, but He did for some reason beyond my wildest dreams. I struggle to wrap my mind around that kind of all-consuming love, that kind of unprecedented compassion that forced him to sacrifice so much. THE perfect man, The Truth, died for my transgressions to give me hope and purpose. He died for ME, one screwed up human being. And even after he suffered that horrific death upon an old wooden cross, he forgave me without a moment's hesitation.

Why, then, should one imperfect, flawed person such as myself have such a massive problem with forgiving someone who's wronged me in the slightest of ways? Why should I feel entitled to withhold forgiveness? I have absolutely no right to delegate who should and shouldn't receive redemption. I know that, yet I fight my very nature time and time again over that simple problem: my glaring lack of the ability to forgive someone easily Everything within me screams, "Don't trust them again. Just don't talk about it. Ignore the problem. Ignore them!" But my beliefs contradict what my very conscious seems to whisper to me at every turn. My faith tells me that I must forgive. I must accept the fact that I am going to get my feelings hurt, or be offended, but I have to look past that and be the bigger person.

This presents a huge challenge for me. My pride, often enough, stands in the way of my "turning the other cheek." Life is a constant struggle to improve myself, to become the best person, the best Believer, I possibly can become. I know that I have quite the journey before me to become like Christ, to become the person he created me to be. But I have faith. And a patient savior. It may not be easy, but each and every day I want to move a step forward in that journey and see where Christ leads me.