Today Lewis tells us about forgiving our enemies in A Year with C.S. Lewis.
He says that it's right there in the middle of our faith. And so it is. Jesus tells us that we are forgiven the same way that we forgive others. He says to forgive 70 times 7 times. And when you step back out of your life, and look at the whole of humanity as one, you can start to see why.
You see... we are all the heroes of our own stories. And we have enemies. Many of our enemies aren't people who have tried to kill us or lied about us in court. Maybe they're just people who have hurt our feelings repeatedly. People who have done things we don't like. People who have wronged us in some way.
Well, when I step back, I see that I myself am someone's enemy, too. I have done things that I need to be forgiven for. I have hurt people, wronged them, been selfish when they needed me. And so just as I need their forgiveness, I should be forgiving the enemies in MY life. So we can all learn to love.
We are all enemies to someone, even if we don't want to be. Terrorists see us as their enemy. Poor people often see the wealthy as their enemy. We find ourselves on the "enemy" side of the equation more often than we'd like. And we certainly desire the forgiveness of those we've wronged.
God, help us to forgive one another, since we all need that forgiveness so much.
2 comments:
Yes, this is so true and important. I think about it every time I say the Lord's prayer which is weekly or most days. Most of the people I've offended are gone or I don't know where they are. Very few I face repeatedly, and I have asked them and asked God to forgive me. This really helps, and I hope it helps you too. Amen
Yes, this is so true and important. I think about it every time I say the Lord's prayer which is weekly or most days. Most of the people I've offended are gone or I don't know where they are. Very few I face repeatedly, and I have asked them and asked God to forgive me. This really helps, and I hope it helps you too. Amen
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