Forgiveness, A Pleasing Aroma

If you’re like me, you have to ask God every single day for forgiveness for something. And every single day, He forgives.

If you’re like me, you have to forgive someone else for something they did today that hurt you or for something done in the past that reared its ugly head today. Old offenses, even those we have forgiven before, have a way of breaking through to the present to hurt us again and need a fresh round of forgiveness.

If you’re like me, this constant forgiveness thing can seem like such a drudgery!

I’ve just realized I’ve been thinking of it all wrong!

I eat everyday. I definitely drink coffee and water everyday. I breathe all day and all night. There are many healthy, helpful, even vital things I do for me everyday. I need to think of my forgiving others as equally vital to my daily life as these things, because it is!

Forgiveness has been in a category for me like– going to the dentist, getting an immunization, washing dishes, doing laundry, taking out the trash....

Forgiveness belongs in a category like– smelling a flower, watching a sunset, hearing a child laugh, getting good news, seeing an old friend, getting a hug...

Or better yet like – winning the lottery and being able to share it with others everyday.

I meditated on some quotes that helped me come to this conclusion.  Listen to this one:

“The true Christian is like sandalwood
which imparts its fragrance to the axe which cuts it,
without doing any harm in return.”
-Sadu Sundar Singh

Kathleen Dillard says, "forgiveness isn’t natural– it’s supernatural, so we must ask God for His supernatural power."

Only God can turn doing work into giving gifts!

Written by Linda, The Colony, Texas

Linda pictured on the left.