“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Lev19.18 NIV
All who would be children of God are forbidden to retaliate for wrongs against them. We are prohibited to harbor even hard feelings against those who have hurt us. God calls us to return good for evil, and to forgive those who have injured us. This of course, is one example of the radical teachings of Jesus. Not radical in the sense of extreme, oh it is that, but as one of the essential qualities to be forgiven ourselves. Christ tells us that God will not forgive our sins if we do not forgive those who sin against us. We should not view this as some threat held over our head. Rather, Jesus is telling us that the same attitude is needed to ask forgiveness as it is to grant forgiveness. And what is that? Well, everyone knows the difference between one who shows remorse because they have been caught and one who is truly sorry for hurting another. The former thinks only of himself, the latter has escaped such self-centered pride and is thinking of the other.
Mercy is given to the merciful because only the merciful understand the nature of love. They also understand its opposite, which is pride. It is the nature of love to always seek the benefit of another and to do this we must many times forget about ourselves and focus on others. This is especially true when forgiveness is needed even if the other party does not know that they need it. And, just because we forgive our neighbor does not mean that they will accept our forgiveness. They too must get out of their self-centered pride just as we must in order to accept God’s forgiveness. As long as we hold on to our pride we cannot ask forgiveness, or grant it. To let go our pride is the first step of learning to love as we have been loved. 6/26/07 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
