Forgiveness

Jesus says that we should forgive those that trespass against us. It reminds me of the Amish. A lone gun man went into an Amish school and killed and wounded many of the children. The Amish people did not look for an eye for an eye against this gun man, instead they prayed for him and forgave him. They sought out his family and gave them their support. As a parent, could I forgive the gun man who would shoot and kill my child?

A man shoots and kills his 2 children and himself, while his wife and the mother of their children is in the shower. When she got out of the shower, she found her husband and children shot to death. How can Satan fill someone with so much evil that he kills his own children and leaves the wife alone to mourn? How can she forgive him?

A 7 year old little girl is walking home from school and never makes it home. The entire city shows up to search for her. For 2 days the neighborhood is locked down as the search goes on. The child is found in a garbage dump in another state. The neighborhood is still living in fear. Who could have done this? We look at our neighbors differently. Is he the one? Or maybe her? Can we forgive this person who has brought fear into our homes that was foreign to us before?

A military man walks into a building where his fellow military brothers are preparing to be deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and starts shooting. He gets off 100 rounds and leaves countless dead and wounded. As he was shooting he was praising God. His family is apologetic and many hold the military itself responsible and look for answers. Can we as a country offer condolences to his family and forgiveness to all?

A former employee walks into his old place of employment and starts shooting every one that is still working. He leaves the carnage and walks away unseen. Several hours later he is found sitting outside his mothers house. He stated “they just put me out to rot”. Since losing his job his wife filed for divorce, his house was foreclosed on, he is thousands of dollars in debt, can not pay child support, and must file bankruptcy. Did Satan enter his heart and turn him into evil? If he just ‘snapped’ as we say in our current society is it Satan at work?

If Jesus says to forgive our neighbor for their trespasses does he also mean to ignore them? Can we, as a community, forgive someone but still call them to account, and still be true to Jesus? As a country we need to pray that Satan does not take hold. We need to pray for the strength to forgive. We need to pray for peace.

Every day, we need to pray for courage, to change the things we can.

Every day, we need to pray for patience to accept the things we cannot.

Every day, we need to pray for wisdom to tell the difference.