Have you ever withheld forgiveness from someone? You got mad, but instead of letting it go, you got your knickers in a twist & decided to be mad for a while.
Maybe they hurt your feelings, overlooked you, took you for granted, or just hit a nerve.
Full Confession? I had a misunderstanding with a loved one this week. It should have been no big deal, but before I knew it I looked like Godzilla hangin’ off the Empire State Building, breathing fire, threatening to burn it all down.
I was mad, hurt & I didn’t really wanna forgive them yet, so I decided to have a good old-fashioned pity party about it.
I know FULL WELL my loved one didn’t mean to hurt me. But I let my insecurity drive the bus & instead of giving them grace & moving on, I held a tight fist around their wrongdoing & made a big ole mess’a things.
But wait, there’s more.
Because this precious Loved One adores me in spite of my Godzilla-self, there’s a gorgeous arrangement of flowers on my desk, delivered just a few hours ago.
So here I sit, trying to write, flowers reminding me just how funny God can be sometimes.
Why? Because this week’s episode is all about mercy & grace.
Of course it is.
As it turns out, mercy & grace are hard to write about when you’re feeling particularly Godzilla-ish.
You might be thinking, why would she admit this? Why not just write a happy little blog about how Jesus forgave us & pretend all is well?
It sure would be easier. But that’s not how I roll.
If we are gonna live authentic lives, we are going to have to be transparent about our struggles. And today when I sat down to write this, I was struggling with forgiveness.
I stopped writing to make amends with my loved one.
Peace restored.
Not only between us, but between myself and the Lord too.
I don’t want to live a duplicitous life – telling you to love and forgive while I’m withholding it from the ones I love.
I’m reminded once again that Jesus pours out mercy and grace over our lives without hesitation, with forgiveness that covers a multitude of sins. Seems only right to extend to others that which He gives us so readily.
So forgive ’em – even if you don’t wanna. Even if they don’t deserve it.
Forgiveness is an act of mercy itself.
