By Katy Mariotti

As He Forgives Us

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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 3:12-13, English Standard Version

I used to think I was pretty good at forgiveness. I don’t anger easily. I don’t really hold grudges. I’m pretty accepting of others and feel strongly that ALL people are God’s children. But I recently thought of someone who used to be my friend and suddenly stopped being my friend, for reasons unbeknownst to me. I realized that I still haven’t forgiven her. And that made me think of other people I haven’t forgiven: someone who made a judgment call about me without having all the facts. Someone who used to compete with me all the time instead of just being my friend. People who I don’t even know who have been rude to me or a family member for no apparent reason.

The Bible has MANY passages about forgiveness. We are to forgive one another. When I think of the aforementioned people, I struggle. The truth is that I don’t even WANT to forgive them. I don’t think of myself as an angry person, but I guess I’m still angry at them. So what do I do?

Pets are a great example of unconditional love and that includes forgiveness. My sweet dog follows me around the house; he’s curled up next to me as I write this. He loves me even when we have to leave him for a long period of time. He loves me even if I accidently step on him because he’s always underfoot. But he also knows that we love him by what we provide for him and the affection we show him. A dog in someone else’s house is not going to love me the same. It’s easy for me to forgive my loved ones who show me they care all the time. So what about these other people?

The only thing I can really go back to is God’s Word. The Colossians passage says that we should forgive as the LORD FORGIVES US. All the things I listed that I’m still angry about- have I done those things too? Have I ghosted friends? When I look back I think I have. Have I made judgment calls without having all the information I needed? Most likely. Have I been competitive with friends? Yes. Have I been rude to people?  Not often I don’t think, but yes. And it doesn’t matter how many times you’re rude, it still sticks with the person you are rude to.

And yet God forgives me all these things and more. So I can work to forgive others as well. Let us all enter the new year with a spirit of forgiveness!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.