Luke 17:3
“Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.”
If you are like me, there are times an old familiar song pops into your head and replays itself over and over. In the past day or so I have relived that experience (again). The song this time is one that Bing Crosby sang many years ago as he reminisced;You Are Easy to Remember, But So Hard to Forget; about a sweetheart that was gone but not forgotten.
As I have thought about the lyrics to the song I have been reminded of how difficult it is for some people to forgive. We can remember the offense against us (that is the easy part) — forgetting the offense is the hard part.
Across the years I have been called upon to counsel many people who deal with the issue of forgiveness. They may say they have forgiven, but at the same time their behavior reveals that their thought life centers on the way they were mistreated by the other party.
I have come to realize that the only reasonable way of dealing with our inability to forget the transgressions of others is to focus on our own. Rather than digging our heels in and demanding recompense from the more guilty party, we must rememberour own sins. We need to be QUICK TO FORGIVE!
Blessings dear hearts! May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil