Each Sunday our faith community gathers before service to pray and share. It's a time when our Family Ministry Director also shares the theme that the next generation is learning for that month. We call it our life app (based off the Orange Philosophy curriculum). She shares the theme and the one sentence description.
This month the theme is forgiveness. The one sentence description:
"Deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn't have to pay."
When she shared it, you could hear a pin drop...people visibly paused and began to think of the implications of that sentence. It hit me square between the eyes. Imagine if we could all forgive people who have wronged us, by deciding that they don't have to pay us anything.
It had such an effect, I asked her to repeat it. It has stuck with me all the time since then and this afternoon, as I was reflecting on it, I asked her for the exact wording because I wanted to share it here.
Like any of you, I have people who have wronged me. I'm trying to apply that sentence to my heart, mind and life today. I am trying to decide that they don't have to pay. I'm working through releasing them from the bondage of my self-righteousness. Because, the truth is, I'm the one in bondage.
I say "trying" because it's a hard thing to do. And as if God was underlining, bolding and italicizing it, we watched A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which has a theme of learning to forgive too.
So, today I'm making a statement of commitment: I am deciding that those who have wronged me don't have to pay.
And I hope that those I have wronged might find the way to release me from having to pay too.
Our world needs more of this. I hope you can release those who have wronged you too.
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