I received the below in an email this week. You know, one of those forwarded stories that you receive and are suppose to pass along. I don't think there was any bad consequence to not forwarding it on (this time), but I did anyway, because it represents one of my favorite philosophies about life.
Forgiveness.
It took me a long time to totally understand true forgiveness.
It wasn't until I was in need of real forgiveness that I learned how to give it as well.
It is a little too late for some of the relationships that I lost along the way, but the lesson has been learned and I don't think I will ever look at relationships with the same pair of eyes.
I have found that all things can be forgiven. And often times, God is most glorified when reconciliation can take place and the wound is deeper and more difficult to forgive.
And this takes serious humility, which sadly, most people
(myself included) do not possess.
But, God has taken me on a journey of learning this.
If God can forgive a person for murder,
can I not forgive my friend for hurting me with her angry words?
If God looks at the rapist with mercy and love,
can I not forgive my friend who was abusive to his wife and child?
The list goes on and on.
Forgiveness.
It took me a long time to totally understand true forgiveness.
It wasn't until I was in need of real forgiveness that I learned how to give it as well.
It is a little too late for some of the relationships that I lost along the way, but the lesson has been learned and I don't think I will ever look at relationships with the same pair of eyes.
I have found that all things can be forgiven. And often times, God is most glorified when reconciliation can take place and the wound is deeper and more difficult to forgive.
And this takes serious humility, which sadly, most people
(myself included) do not possess.
But, God has taken me on a journey of learning this.
If God can forgive a person for murder,
can I not forgive my friend for hurting me with her angry words?
If God looks at the rapist with mercy and love,
can I not forgive my friend who was abusive to his wife and child?
The list goes on and on.
I love this little poem.
It says it all just right.
It says it all just right.
STONE
Two friends were walking through the desert.
During some point of the journey,
they had an argument;
and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt,
but without saying anything
wrote in the sand,
"Today, my best friend slapped me in the face."
They kept on walking,
until they found an oasis,
where they decided to take a bath.
The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire
and started drowning
but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning,
he wrote on a stone:
he wrote on a stone:
"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him,
"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand
and now,
you write on a stone,
"WHY?"
"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand
and now,
you write on a stone,
"WHY?"
The friend replied,
"When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand,
where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away.
But when someone does something good for us,
we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND
AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.
Something to live by,
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