Forgiveness is a Lovely Idea, Until …

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.

Can I be honest with you? I used to be … well, not a very nice person. In my younger years I was so focused on winning, on succeeding, that I’d walk over the top of anyone and everyone to get there. But then something changed. The question is, what? What kicked off the radical transformation that’s still going on in my life today?

The people I singled out for the harshest treatment back then were the Christians in my life. They just really got up my nose. Somehow (although I’m not sure I could have said it this way back then) their goodness offended me because it shone a light on my bad intent and bad behaviour.

But in the mid 1990’s, when my whole world came crashing down around me (the details aren’t important here, but it was devastating) it was those very same “Christians” who opened their hearts and their homes to me. Without a single word of condemnation, without even a sideward glance or a moment’s hesitation, they were there for me.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.

That sounds really nice, until a person like the one I was back then walks into your life. As author and theologian C.S. Lewis once put it, everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive.

The unhesitating and unconditional forgiveness of those Christians spoke more of the love and forgiveness of God available to me through the sacrifice of Jesus on that Cross than anything else ever could have. So please … be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.

That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.