Two-fer Tuesday: Forgiveness by Miz Pink

I am not gonna lie. Also even though I don’t usually swear around here (unlike that sailor Deacon Blue), I’m a’gonna tell you something straight up: This bitch can hold a grudge.

I’m a sweetie up to a point (and that’s a might far reaching point) and it’s pretty hard to get me over the edge of Mt. PissedOff but it can happen. And when it does I tend not to return your phone calls for weeks, months. Rarely do I hold a grudge longer than a year but it has happened. A woman whose personality was a bit too much like mine (not that I had noticed or would have admitted it then)committed the terrible sin of marrying Sir Pink’s brother (whom I was kinda protective of) and I tell ya, I didn’t like the way she bossed my bro-in-law around. Of course, I also didn’t notice that I did the same thing to Sir Pink at the time (probably still do). Took me two years (or was it three?) of giving the frosty shoulder to notice that the two of them were (shocker!) in love and doing just fine without my righteous indignation thank you very much. We two gals get along famously now.

That’s not cool tough. Holding a stupid grudge so long. It really ain’t. I need to learn to forgive more. And faster. And without expecting some grateful fanfare for doing it. Oh and to forgive without resentment. To forgive the same way I am supposed to give…and that is: g.r.a.t.e.f.u.l.l.y.

Remember the Lord’s Prayer…the one Jesus gave us himself?

Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed is your name. Your kingdom come and your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors…and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Some versions don’t say forgive us our debts but rather: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

But you know what I like about the word debt here? It tells us we owe something. When we do wrong to others (or to God), we owe God. We owe him a sincere apology and it is up to us to go to him to ask for forgivness through his son Jesus and that sacred blood he shed for us. Wouldn’t hurt to go apologize to the person we wronged too by the way.

When people wrong us, they owe God, certainly, but they also owe us. But remember how much God and Jesus don’t like usury? If you don’t know, that’s the loaning of money at really evil terms. When someone wrongs us and we hold it against them over a long period, we are tacking interest onto their debt that we aren’t authorized by God to add on there. We’re being loan sharks in a spiritual/emotional way.

Not our right. Not our place. Not good. Not good at all.

It is hard to forgive. But we have to. That doesn’t mean we have to like the folks who have wronged us by the way…it just means we have to move beyond it and say at some point (quickly if at all possible) that it’s no longer for us to carry around but between that person and God.

(Deke’s post on forgiveness today is here)

2 thoughts on “Two-fer Tuesday: Forgiveness by Miz Pink

  1. Pingback: Two-fer Tuesday: Forgiveness by Deacon Blue « Holy Shit from Deacon Blue

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