Wednesday, March 2
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
I chose to reflect on this line of the Lord’s Prayer because for me it is one of the most meaningful. God taught us what forgiveness means, by forgiving us for our sins. We should do the same for one another.
Sometimes I think of life as a river flowing and we have twists and turns, some with places of beauty and peace, some with rapids, filled with excitement and thrill. But when we have wronged someone, or been wronged, it is like a tree falling across our river (a trespass) and the flow of the water is stopped or disrupted. If that happens, we have two choices, to forgive the trespass, as God would have us do, or not to forgive.
If we do not forgive the trespass, the tree will forever affect the flow of our life; it will block more and more of our heart with debris that builds up around the tree trunk and its branches. As it grows in size, it blocks more flow and eventually will forever change the path of the river, the path of our life.
But if we forgive…we move the tree. Instead of seeing a growing pile of painful debris before us, we see the flowing river again and we are free to travel in it. And where the tree fell becomes a speck on the rivers edge, never allowed to grow any bigger or block the river. We are free from it because we forgave.
Forgiveness doesn’t condone a trespass, or mean that we are okay, but it does mean that we are willing to allow for a future beyond the current pain. It allows us to continue down the river.
When I am forgiven, I am freed to move beyond my transgression and empowered to become a better person. When I forgive, I free others from their transgression and empower them to become a better person. That is what God does for us each day and what we should be doing for each other.
God, thank you for the forgiveness you give us, and empower us to forgive others. Please guide my words and my actions so that I don’t trespass against another, and please give me strength when I am trespassed upon. But when I and others fall short, when I and others fail, please help us all to be quick to forgive, and thankful to be forgiven. Let us move always in the direction of love, growth and compassion.
–Jessie Evers