Thanks to Alicia Gutierrez for this post --
As Dawn mentioned in her sermon on Sunday, this has been a tough sermon series. Talking about forgiveness is difficult. When the sermon series was announced I was unsure of how I felt about it. Yeah, it’s a great idea – we all know forgiveness is a good thing – but what would the series look like? Most importantly, would it really help me get over the terrible betrayals that I decided to focus on?
Well, my skepticism turned out to be somewhat justified, at least as I initially conceptualized a forgiveness series. Neither Dean nor Dawn has given us a step by step program about how to forgive. I so wish they did! Instead, they have focused on the importance of forgiveness, the reasons why forgiveness is in keeping with Christian principles, and how choosing to forgive is following the example of Jesus Christ.
During this past sermon, I had a sort of “aha” moment. I understood why it’s so important for me to forgive these particular wrongs done to me. I thought I understood it before, but that was just a theoretical idea, and after the past several sermons the importance of forgiveness clicked in a new way. I saw clearly how holding onto anger is holding me back and making peace with the past – and forgiving those who hurt me – is the only way to move forward into the life that I want to create.
I describe myself as being in a “forgiveness soup,” I know a lot is going on as I work through my pain consciously and subconsciously, but I can’t explain it in any logical way. However, this past Sunday I realized that the teaching, prayer, fellowship, and meditation of this Lenten season is helping me move towards forgiveness. This is better than a step by step plan. I am learning to forgive by developing a deeper understanding of God’s word and by strengthening my faith as I ask God for grace and guidance.
