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Thought for the day for BBC Radio Kent

Thought for the day – Forgiveness

This morning, thousands of people in churches across the county will be saying the prayer that Jesus taught us. And in that prayer are some of the hardest words we could ever hope to pray.
We pray these words every Sunday: Forgive our sins as we forgive those who would sin against us. I’ll be honest and say there are times when I go quiet because I may not have the resources to forgive or simply don’t want to.

God calls us to make difficult choices sometimes and difficult choices require courage. Forgiveness is difficult. Indira Gandhi described it as the virtue of the brave. It takes courage to let go of the hurt we get thrown at us, as we go through life. Being able to forgive those who hurt us shows not only those who have caused us the pain (whatever that pain is) but also those who love and care for us that we have struggled with life and have, through the grace of God, started growing into the person God wants us to be.

Forgiving someone does not mean we forget what has happened. It isn’t a wishy washy desire to see the world made right. Ask anyone who participated in the truth and reconciliation commission in South Africa. Those who came either asking for forgiveness for atrocities they had committed or those forgiving the people who had committed those atrocities. It can be blood, sweat, anguish and tears, but it wipes the slate clean and allows broken people and broken lives to start to heal and be made whole.

The American Poet Maya Angelou described forgiveness as the greatest gift a person can give themselves. I believe that forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts God gives us, The Bible tells us in the book of Psalms that God’s forgiveness is as broad as the East is from the West. If we allow ourselves to forgive each other and probably more importantly, ourselves in the same way God forgives us, just imagine what the world would be like today.


What would your world look like if you forgave someone today?

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