Forgiving Others

When I was student teaching in the public school system, I was careful about how I shared my faith with the teenagers in my classes. I allowed them to be the ones to initiate personal conversations and ask questions. My cooperating teacher, on the other hand, was very open with his agnostic and worldly views. On one occasion he set up a writing prompt inspired by a recent personal event in his life- a stolen car radio. After listening to the teacher give a detailed description of what he thought was an appropriate punishment, the students were asked to write how they would exact revenge on someone who stole from them. 

The world tends to work from this angle often; payback is more commonly understood and unforgiveness fairly acceptable. But the Bible gives us a very different command on how we are to treat wrongdoings against us. Mark 11:25 says if we hold anything against anyone, we are to forgive them. Anything, no matter the offense, and anyone, no matter who it is. That does not mean it is easy to forgive or that it is not important that we have been wronged, but what it does mean is that we are called to work through unforgiveness and not hold on to offenses which will grow into heavy burdens of bitterness. If we lean on God for wisdom and strength, we can navigate forgiving others; He has not commanded us to do anything He will not help us do. 

God worked in the heart of my cooperating teacher. The day after the car radio writing prompt, he must have felt convicted for being so forthcoming with his anger and ideas of revenge, that he told the class my beliefs were quite different than his. He told them that I was following the rules by not openly sharing my views, and he wanted to give them an opportunity to hear from me, so he encouraged them to ask all sorts of questions. That day I was freed up to not only share the gospel, but all sorts of Biblical principles including how it is always better to forgive than be burdened with the weight of unforgiveness. 

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Lord, thank You for forgiving me. Please show me where I might be harboring unforgiveness. Enable me to let go and forgive regardless of how long it has been. I trust you for strength and wisdom to work through it and grow from it. Amen.