When someone’s sin hits you like a stone, hurting you deeply, there are four things you can do. Here’s the final option—Forgive. You don’t have to forget, but God calls us to forgive.
What exactly is forgiveness? It’s the daily choice to let the stone alone. You don’t forgive once and for all anymore than you make the choice to be patient once and for all. No, that stone is always there at your feet, which means every day, every moment, with every trigger, every memory, you have to make a choice to let the stone alone. To trust that God will take care of the justice. To believe that God knows what happened and his path, free from bitterness and vengeance, is the best way to be healed.
Once your hands are free of their sins, they are open to pray, to bless, and to reach out in reconciliation. Peter wrote, “Repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).
I think I know where Peter learned that from. Jesus didn’t repay us for our evil but instead blessed us by his blood. His calling was to love us, forgive us, and save us. His choice to let all of our sinful stones alone means that we have an inheritance in heaven, a clear and constant view of the face of our Father.
I know forgiveness can feel impossible. So fix your eyes on the cross where God makes the constant choice to let those stones alone, to forgive you.
