Yesterday’s sermon hit me upside the head like Wile E. Coyote stepping on a rake. The title was “Christmas is For-giving,” and as you can guess, it wasn’t about gift-giving. I’m trying to keep my eyes on the heavenly prize and the race, not the heckling by-standers, but forgiving is easier said than done.

 

Forgiving grievous acts over and over is more difficult for me than forgiving a one-time offense. (Then again, I can think of a few one-time offenses that would be pretty tough to forgive, as well.) Yet, regardless of whether the hurt was dished out all at once or piecemeal over years, we are still mandated to forgive. Not only forgive, but we are called to LOVE our enemies! Ouch. I don’t know about you, but I still struggle with that.

 

I appreciate God’s mercy and grace, and I know that I don’t deserve either. My humanness tries to justify my desire not to forgive by comparing another person’s sin with my own. I tell myself that my sins are mostly between God and me; they are matters of the heart and not things that hurt others. Someone else’s actions hurt me and those I love; therefore, they should be harder to forgive. That is soooo not biblical, but I would venture to say that I’m not the only one who tries to get away with unforgiveness by justifying my own shortcomings.

 

I need to pray – for myself, for my enemy(ies). I need to forgive. I need to forgive. I need to forgive … and, last but not least, I need to love/bless my enemy(ies). That last part actually seems to be a little easier than the forgiveness part, and I’ve taken baby steps already. I guess compassion comes easier to me than mercy; ironic how they are supposed to go hand-in-hand! Like I said, I’m taking baby steps. As Paul wrote in the verse that I linked above, I cannot claim to have arrived at my destination. This physical – and spiritual – life is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

Lord, please help me today to forgive. And again tomorrow. And the day after that. I know that your opinion is the only one that matters. You are my running partner, taking my hand and guiding me through the course. Let your Spirit’s presence be my playlist, and let the voice of the heckler sound like white noise to my ears.