FORGIVENESS

April 20: It is still hard to look at Ian lying in his medically induced paralyzed state. Will he ever recover? What a terrible thing was done to him. It is so easy to hate that person.

Today I read from Steven K Scott’s book, THE RICHEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED: King Solomon’s secrets to success, wealth and happiness, in preparation for my discussion with my friend over breakfast tomorrow. The chapter is on handling adversity. One piece of that is as follows:

Be quick to forgive.

In Proverbs 10:12 Solomon tells us, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.” Anytime someone hurts us it gives us a wonderful opportunity to respond with forgiveness, to be kind and loving. There is no act or attribute that is more pleasing to God than that of forgiveness. But it can be exercised only when we have been unjustly offended. That is why we should be truly grateful for even those people who have hurt us the most. The greater the hurt, the better the opportunity for forgiveness. The greater out forgiveness, the more godly our character becomes.

Whoa!!