Forgiveness

Many of us find it difficult to forgive those who have hurt us or done things to harm us. We know Jesus said we must forgive 70 times 7 times, but it is hard to do this given our human frailty. When I struggle with forgiveness, I think of the example of the Amish community when five young girls were killed at a school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 2006. The community stunned the country by reaching out in forgiveness and reconciliation with no sign of revenge or retaliation. Another recent example of forgiveness was when nine African Americans were killed at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The congregation forgave and prayed for the gunman who seemed to have white supremist tendencies. Everyone was impressed with the large-heartedness of these communities. If these groups can forgive such horrible tragedies, we should be able to forgive others' small hurts and offences.
We also have the compassion and mercy of God to model as we pray each day "to forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us." It doesn't matter if the other person or group deserves forgiveness. It's what it does for our spirits and the healing it provides. Our world needs more mercy to overcome hate with forgiving hearts.