Forgiveness

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13 Chapter 4 of "The Creative Call" deals with forgiveness. I don't know how many times i thought i have forgiven those who have hurt or offended me only to have resentment rise up and smack me in the face when i least expect it. As i read through this chapter many of those past hurts have resurfaced again. One of the first things we are instructed to do in the book is to write the names of people i need to forgive and then we are to write a letter to one of those people telling him or her what they have done to discourage my dream of becoming an artist. My list really wasn' t very long-4 names to be exact. One of those names is my own. I have been stalling on writing the letter because i couldn't decide which would be most beneficial. It probably doesn't matter anyway because i would be the only person to ever see the letter but i do have a way of making things more difficult than they need to be. Finally, i decided to take the matter to God in my quiet time this morning. As i wrote my thoughts down in my journal the realization came to me that the grievances i held against these people were the same grievances i hold against myself. The hurtful things they said or did are the same as i said or did against myself. Maybe their actions were even motivated by the same emotions i feel: fear, overwhelm and uncertainty. From this perspective i do feel more compassion than resentment and with compassion comes forgiveness. While i am not all there yet, i do feel hopeful. I am also hopeful that God will take care of my overwhelming feelings as long as i take them to Him first.