Call to forgive

Recently, an incident occurred that got the both of us really upset and fuming.

We were promised something by a salesperson but were given something different. It irked us further when this salesperson skirts around the issue and insists that he has given us what he promised. He even had the cheek to tell us that according to the law, what he has given us fulfills that which is stated in the contract.

We are currently in the midst of finding a resolution for this but the very thought of this salesperson having the decency to deny any wrongdoing in this matter makes our blood boil. We are so angry with this person, his accomplice and his company. I find it very hard to even consider forgiving this person.

I took my first baby step to forgiving this person today when I was reading a book that a friend of ours gave us. It relates the encounter of a person with God, after the abduction and murder of his young daughter. The book revealed words of wisdom that I would like to share with you. “To forgive someone does not mean that you will be in relationship with that person. It means that you are removing your hands from the throat of that person, so that God can redeem that person when allowed to.” These are not the exact words but it brought new meaning to the word forgiveness to me. We do not need to have any further relations with that person but our act of forgiveness allows the possibility of God's redemptive power in that person's life.

I cannot imagine myself in the shoes of that character in the book, being able to forgive the murderer of his daughter but I know that we are all called to forgive no matter how grave the sin of the other party. It may sound illogical but Jesus showed the way by dying on the cross for our sins.

I pray for the grace of God to forgive this person and continue to strive for holiness in my short stay here on earth.