Uncommon Forgiveness

Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:13 (ESV)

The new widow entered the sanctuary alone. I walked behind her. Her young daughters were already seated with my two teens. As I followed her to the front-row pew, an unexpected thought caught me off-guard. Walk alongside the grieving widow and hold her hand. What? How could I? The Holy Spirit nudged my spirit again. I was to convey mercy and grace to the one who had wounded me ten years earlier. And so, I did. The funeral of my first husband, only 45 years old, proceeded.

She had hurt me. He had hurt me and left me and our children. They deserted their marriage vows and stepped into unfaithfulness. Both marriages ended; they married each other and had two girls.

My life isn’t supposed to go this way, I silently lamented.

When the betrayal was revealed, reality stabbed my heart. Life, trust, and security bled out. Yet soon I chose to forgive them. At that time, I didn’t want to forgive or feel like it. Eventually my feelings caught up to my resolve.

Forgiveness didn’t mean reconciliation. It meant releasing them from my temptation to hurt and punish them somehow or to hold a grudge against them. It eventually meant being able to pray God’s best for them. It meant respectfully engaging with them during necessary encounters. It meant comforting her during his funeral. Forgiveness did not mean the lack of lifelong consequences for all of us.

Consider the uncommon and matchless forgiveness that God demonstrates and grants us through His Son Jesus. He forgave me for all my wrongdoings. How could I hold on to the wrongs done against me when He freely gave His life for me?

God can empower us to fully forgive others. Will you let Him? I’m grateful for responding to the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit to have been able to come alongside one who had been my enemy.

Karen Sims