“What is forgiveness?”
“When someone does something to you that hurts your feelings, how does it make you feel?”
“Have you ever hurt someone and then you felt bad about it later?”
“Should we forgive others?”
While casually asking the above questions to a group of children, I was preparing for my object lesson on what unforgiveness can do. Pouring the warm water into a Ziploc bag, we discussed types of scenarios of moments we should forgive others and self. As the vinegar was added, the conversation continued. Then, while heaping spoonfuls of baking soda on a tissue, I mentioned how unforgiveness can eat away at us, build up resentment, bitterness, anger, and a gamut of emotions. I placed the tissue, filled with baking soda, into the bag and slightly shook it to illustrate agitation. Once the bag was shaken and placed onto a large baking pan, BAM, the bag detonated symbolizing how unforgiveness in our lives can cause us to explode with thoughts and actions that aren’t so becoming of a godly character.
In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving debtor. Brief scenario of it is…there was a servant who owed the king an unfathomable amount of money. After the servant begged for mercy, the king showed compassion and forgave his entire debt. The servant then went and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a fraction of what he himself owed the king. He grabbed him by the neck and started choking him. The fellow servant begged for mercy much like the one choking him had just done. The first servant did not show compassion and forgiveness and threw him in jail. Others saw and were sad by what they witnessed, and they told the king. The king asked his servant, “Shouldn’t you have shown mercy and forgiveness like I did for you”. The king then threw him in jail to be tortured until his debt was paid.
Y’all, we are to forgive just as Jesus does. If not, we are putting ourselves above God.
Forgiving is often a difficult task, but it is a must.
In Matthew 6:14-15 it commands that we are to forgive if we want to be forgiven.
Okay, so forgiving is commanded, what about forgetting? Yea, that is a good thing to do too, or should I say a God thing to do. For me, I believe that there are instances in our life that we may not forget because maybe, just maybe, we are to look back and see how far we’ve come or learn a valuable lesson so that we can in turn guide others when they experience the same hard to forget moment.
To illustrate this concept with the children, I wrote the word sin over and over again in varying sizes. When I erased the words, you could faintly see them still on the dry erase board. (Us not forgetting.) Then I took the spray and wiped the board clean. There was not a trace of the word sin anywhere on the board. (That’s God forgetting.)
Forgiving someone doesn’t imply that they are off the hook to repeat the act again, it means that we relinquish any hold they may have over us. It’s now between them and God. We may not forget, but we should take that lesson and grow from it and bring glory to God.
That’s my take on it. Like, I’ve said before…I’m no theologian, just a girl who loves Jesus and desires to try to be more like Him daily. From personal experiences, I’ve discovered that forgiveness is freeing, and my life can continue with more joy that only comes from my relationship with Jesus Christ.
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie
(Featured photo: Tim and I on a recent trip to the new hunting camp. Ready for more memories together.)