Devotion: Forgiveness is Necessary
Forgiveness is Necessary
Please read the scripture from the weekend: Luke 17:3-4
A long time ago, in a decade far, far away, I took my two young sons to their school’s Fun Night. I worked the duck pond while they focused on fun and friends. They sought me out when their funds ran out and I learned a life lesson: Don’t take more money with you to Fun Night than you are prepared to leave at Fun Night.
When all the fun was done, we hurried home for bath time and bedtime because, inexplicably, Fun Night was also a school night. In my haste, I left my purse in the car, something I rarely did. In the morning my purse was gone and the lock on the side door of the garage had been jimmied. The officer who investigated said the thief likely took the cash and tossed the rest in a dumpster.
I was glad the thief got only a few coins, but angry that my home had been burglarized. I had become a crime victim, a victim who now had to cancel a credit card; get a new car key, driver’s license and library card; and plead for a quick replacement for my Blockbuster video card, among other things.
I was mad. Every time I went to the garage, I got angry. This went on for months. It didn’t occur to me to forgive the unknown thief; what would he or she care? I knew forgiveness could restore a relationship, but I didn’t have a relationship with the thief to restore. I finally convinced myself I was even more a victim by letting this memory determine my mood and somehow shoved it into a corner of my mind. But I never forgot.
Some years later I heard Pastor Greg speak about forgiveness, that it frees the one who forgives. Ah, I got it – I would forgive the thief, take back my power and be a victim no more!
It took me some more years and reflection to understand that forgiveness is about God’s power, not mine. When we forgive another, God gives us peace by taking away our desire for revenge. And he gives us freedom from the other’s sin that had the power to trigger our emotions and actions. That is freedom indeed!
Forgiving can be hard. Before we forgive, we have to want to. We didn’t ask to be harmed. Why should we have to do the work of forgiving?
The best reason is because God says so. Not forgiving is a sin, as Jesus makes clear in Luke’s Gospel and elsewhere. The second-best reason is because forgiving brings us God’s peace and the freedom to leave an ugly part of our past behind, no longer controlled by it.
Loving God, help me to forgive – help me to want to forgive. Help me move away from this place I don’t want to be back into your grace and peace. And thank you for your forgiveness! Amen.
Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck
Cheryl Stubbendieck is a member of Sheridan’s Devotion Writing Team. She leads the Wednesday morning Women’s Bible Study and serves on the Sheridan Foundation board. She and her husband Jim are retired. Their family includes son Aaron and his wife Chaitra and grandson, Theo, of Houston, TX, and their son Reed of Stillwater, OK.