May 4, 2004

[Rev. Doc]

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-22
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

Forgiveness is probably one of the hardest things that we are called upon to do by our Lord. Wounds can lie within our hearts which in time grow intense with the darkness of hatred. And as hard as it may be, Jesus calls upon us to let go and forgive.

Corrie ten Boom told of not being able to forget a wrong that had been done to her. She had forgiven the person, but she kept rehashing the incident and so couldn't sleep. Finally Corrie cried out to God for help in putting the problem to rest. "His help came in the form of a kindly Lutheran pastor," Corrie wrote, "to whom I confessed my failure after two sleepless weeks." "Up in the church tower," he said, nodding out the window, "is a bell which is rung by pulling on a rope. But you know what? After the sexton lets go of the rope, the bell keeps on swinging. First ding, then dong. Slower and slower until there's a final dong and it stops. I believe the same thing is true of forgiveness. When we forgive, we take our hand off the rope. But if we've been tugging at our grievances for a long time, we mustn't be surprised if the old angry thoughts keep coming for a while. They're just the ding-dongs of the old bell slowing down." "And so it proved to be. There were a few more midnight reverberations, a couple of dings when the subject came up in my conversations, but the force -- which was my willingness in the matter -- had gone out of them. They came less and less often and at the last stopped altogether: we can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts."

Prayer: Ask God to help you put aside any emotions that would hinder you from forgiving others.

"Forgiveness is a funny thing; it warms the heart and cools the sting." ~William A. Ward.

[Spirit_Wolf8356]

Thank you, very much. That is something I really needed to hear.

[wiggins]

Thanks Rev.doc!

[Sieg9986]

That's an awesome message, I especially love the part about the dinging and donging being thoughts of our grievances and lingering on for a while to haunt us until they go away.

[Master Kenzo]

I love the comparison. Thanks Doc for yet another great devotional.

[Staci]

What a superb message- and one I needed to hear as of late. Thanks again, Rev. Doc, for posting these Daily Devotionals. They are something I look forward to now every morning!