Luke 17:3-4
“Be alert. If you see your friend going
wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal
against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he
says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.”
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
I watched a teacher work with a child
at Zola’s pre-K graduation as the students performed a little skit for
the crowd. This child apparently has special needs, and he kept
repeatedly getting up and running across the stage with his arms
flailing in the air. The teacher would retrieve the child and speak to
him, then gently place him back in line. I lost track of how many times
she did this.
Clearly this child has issues and could not help
his behavior. A lot of people we encounter each day don’t have a good
excuse for their thoughts, words and actions. And yet, Jesus calls on
us to gently nudge them back in the right direction…and to forgive them
over and again – even when they mistreat us or hurt us in some way.
You
may be asking yourself, “Is she saying that we should forgive someone
who is abusive and let them keep on harming us or the people we love?” I
am saying that we must forgive these people…but we don’t have to stick
around for their mistreatment. Forgiving someone and standing up for
yourself are two entirely different actions. And sometimes, the most
loving and forgiving thing you can do for someone who is repeating a bad
behavior is to walk away from them.
This is one of the hardest
scripture passages for many of us to wrap our brains around. We are not
wired to forgive repeatedly. We are not geared toward “tough love.”
Yet Jesus is calling us to practice both. Who needs your
forgiveness…maybe for the umpteenth time? Who needs to hear, “I love
you, but I cannot be around you while you are acting this way” as you
practice extending grace, mercy and “tough love?”
I don’t know
about you, but I’m going to have to ask for a hefty dose of patience and
courage – on an almost-daily basis – in order to accomplish these
demonstrations of Christian love! And I must start today! Because I
know that Jesus is exercising these same qualities as He deals with me
and my sins. To treat others any less would basically say that what He
does for me – and for you – is a waste of time and energy…that Jesus
might as well give up on us! I’m not prepared to do this…so the
alternative is to follow Him and treat others as He has commanded. And
that means offering forgiveness over…and over…and over. Are you with me?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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