“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.”
Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived a lady who was caught in the act of adultery and she was bought in front of Jesus (Yep the same guy’s who’s birth we’re celebrating this month). They bought her to Jesus and they presented their cases and they argued why she should be stoned because she was a sinner and Jesus stood there listening to what they had to say and Jesus was “scribbling” on the ground. Jesus didn’t move an inch, Jesus sat there and said these words, “You without sin, cast the first stone”. It’s a statement that shook the crowd, they stood stunned, one by one they dropped the stones they had and they went their way. It was a moment of mixed emotions, that one sentence became the essence of forgiveness, that one person became the symbol of forgiveness and this one instance became the true meaning of forgiveness. Jesus was the only person who could have condemned her, he was the only one who could, but he didn’t. He chose to do forgive her. He was a sinless man, he was above all the people who gathered, he was the only rightful person to pick up that stone and stone her, but he chose to forgive her which saved her. That’s the heart of a saviour right there, that’s the reason he came down for. He said it, he did it!
Now, forgiveness is not easy, it’s one of the toughest thing to do. We are good at forgetting and moving on, but there are a lot of things we haven’t forgiven. We forget, but don’t forgive. What if we changed it up a little bit? What if we forgave and forgot. That’s the perfect way to live. There’s no person in this world who hasn’t been hurt by somebody. If you think you haven’t been hurt, wake up from your dream. Hurt and pain are you co-passengers on this journey we call life. And there’s no living without it, the only thing we can do is to forgive. There may be people in your life who hurt you so bad, that you don’t live your life the same way, maybe their actions have scarred you for life. But you hold in your hands the stone, all that matters is what are you going to do about it? Are you going to cast the first stone or are you going to drop it and do what Jesus did? Choose the latter, because that’s the best thing to do. Now all this sounds wonderful, it’s easier said than done. It’s difficult, but it’s not impossible. There are people who have done it, and there are people who are still doing it. If we take the first step in doing it, our lives will be better. Because nobody is perfect, and the only perfect one chose to forgive, why can’t we do what Jesus did? Take the first step today, chose to forgive somebody who hurt you, because when you forgive you’re helping yourself.
Peace awaits you on the other side of Forgiveness!