In a world that gives so little space, how do we find room to forgive?
It seems that the slightest offense sets off a chain reaction or rebuke, rebuttal, and eventual punishment. The preferred punishment of the day is exorcism from communion and relationship. Step out of line, and social fabric of relationship is destroyed--often completely.
And if you think I am being hyperbolic. . . just look on social media or read your news feed. The proof is written all over the place.
Society is quick to cut off all ties and lines of communication when someone sins against them--real or imaginary even in the slightest way. And so this week I have been wondering about how we recover that relationship? I wonder how we forgive?
H.R. Mackintosh spent a great deal of time writing and thinking about forgiveness as he taught in Scotland. The title of his book, The Christian Experience of Forgiveness, offers us a hint at what he believed and taught. He said:
"The real truth is that man's forgiveness, at its noblest, is no more than a faint echo or imitation of that eternal and transcendent Divine pardon made ours by Jesus, with which everything began."
If forgiveness on our part is an imitation of the forgiveness that takes place in Jesus at the moment of atonement, then perhaps the weight of Mackintosh's statement can help us offer grace and forgiveness to those who have wounded us?
Maybe today spend a little time thinking about the implication of Mackintosh's words in your life? Does the weight of those words call you to change your thinking and living?
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