Indebtedness

Matthew 5:7

"Blessed are those who show mercy. They will be shown mercy. "

(Genesis 14:1-16; Genesis 50:15-21; 1 Corinthians 13)

I believe one of the most challenging aspects of daily living is that of looking past the failures of others. Not the failures that affect their lives, but those that affect mine. More specifically, I am challenged to genuinely accept that the only people who can truly hurt me are those to whom I am the closest. Those individuals are the ones I find it terribly difficult to forgive. I will attempt to foster healthy relationships, but will always be reticent to give fully because of what I have lost previously. Some call that self-preservation and others call it wise living, but I’ll admit to me it’s just fear of losing again.

In the first four beatitudes, Jesus dealt with how a person interacts with God and how she must view Him based on her own situation. However, as Jesus continues to unpack his expectations of a resident of the Kingdom of Heaven, He instructs those listening that their responsibility to others is tied to their citizenship. He calls them to realize that how they treat others, should be a reflection of how they have been treated...by God. My wife and I have four children. We consistently attempt to teach them to treat one another with respect and honor. I realize that for many this may not seem reasonable due to the lack of experience my children possess; however I would argue that even at six or ten years old, each one of them have learned what it means to be completely dependent on someone else, what it means to be hungry and then fed, what it is like to have been sad and then comforted. As such, their limited experience has provided them with an understanding through which all of life can be filtered. I would contend that the same filter exists for me at least it should.

When Jesus calls a person to be merciful, it is because they understand mercy. Mercy is something that is always right on time. Regardless of when it is received, mercy is always more valuable than we understand. It is because when we were in need, someone helped us out. It stems from the fact that in the midst of daily living, someone else reminded us that being alive is more than simply breathing in. To be fully alive, you must eventually exhale and exhaling is always a practice in giving up your breath. In many ways forgiveness is like this, it is the practice of losing something. Forgiveness is the practice of losing your right to be angry or upset. It is the practice of learning to let go of all that binds you to a world that no longer exists and grabbing ahold of the tail of the kite that drags you through this one. Forgiveness, like exhaling, is an exercise in losing something that is required to live, but will prove fatal if you just hold it in.

Do you agree that “forgiveness...is an exercise in losing something that is just as important to find”? Why or Why not?

Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 6 includes the statement “Forgive us as we forgive our debtors.” How does knowing that God forgives us as we forgive others affect how you exercise forgiveness?