With the
freedom to fail,
And the
courage to pass,
That’s
where relationships sail,
Because forgiveness is class.
***
The journey to forgiveness is
sprinkled with many merciful advances of trust. Forgiveness is courage one day,
freedom the next.
The Courage In Forgiveness
When we forego our desires for
satisfaction so another person can have another chance, it involves courage.
The only proviso is the brand of our
submission: when we decide for forgiveness, rather than ‘meekly’ submit
like a doormat, as if we had no choice, our faith that advocates for the relationship is ushered, from
courage, to the forefront.
This is a beautiful moral courage,
not the stoic physical courage we normally associate to bravery.
To actually decide to enter the
discomfort and even pain, when it’s the right thing to do, when it would be
just as easy to choose the comfortable option requires courage.
And it is courage all the more
when we consider such a decision usually needs to be made over and over and
over again. Forgiveness, on a relational plane, is rarely a one-off event. Real
courage sees decisions for forgiveness meted out consistently. It’s like we
have made the resolve with ourselves over this issue, one requiring a journey,
and faith is that journey’s sponsor.
Forgiveness is a risk for the relationship. Where the
relationship has still a chance, forgiveness goes ahead for it.
When Courage Opens The Way To Freedom
The more we sow into courage the
more freedom we afford for ourselves. This is both a ‘now’ and a
‘to-be-experienced-later-on’ reality.
We experience the absence of
conflicted feelings when we have decided in faith to think and act a certain
forgiving way. There comes to us a special kind of resolved peace. Our
extension of grace, which is usually quite unexpected on the other’s behalf,
gives the other person freedom, and both they and we experience the majesty within
the workings of vibrant grace.
Later on, as we watch things
unfold, and also reflect, we thank God for the strength and initiative to issue
grace in such difficult circumstances. A more objectified freedom comes as a
result, which is a strange kind of subjective blessing.
***
Forgiveness requires courage yet
it rewards us with freedom. It qualifies us as obedient to God, and both
parties can be blessed as a result. Forgiveness is trust that begets trust, and
respect that begets respect.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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