Should forgiving be such a difficult thing to do? Is it hard for God? It's hard for me. That's a terrible thing to admit, isn't it? In Matthew, right after teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus got real specific on why we're to forgive, and it sounds like God will hold back on me if I hold back on someone. That's a tough pill to swallow. I pray for the grace to forgive the deep wounds others are "responsible for" in my life, but I think it will take time, still.
Working through my faith...
2 comments:
Funny, not the first person to write about this on Monday morning(?) It's interesting to me that we all think "God wants us to forgive right away." That's only partly true, though. Yes, God wants us to begin a path of forgiveness as soon as we are aware of it, but God has arranged all of our emotions and psyche to work through processes, at times very slowly. I find it difficult to believe that God would ask you to be over your hurt immediately. Instant gratification is an invention of our culture, not our God. I think that an eternal God has the capacity to help you through this process, even if it takes a long time.
For example, when a married couple comes into my office and one person has cheated on the other, yet they both want to work it out, I would never tell them to settle it quickly. Nor would I tell the offended partner to "just get over it." I don't think it is either realistic or helpful to either party. Forgiveness is one thing, trust is something different. God never tells us to trust everyone blindly. Trust can only be developed over time. In that sense then, forgiveness only can too!
Confused along with you, Aaron.
It's not easy, praying with you
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