Loving your enemies isn’t easy, is it? Jesus loved the men who crucified him because he understood they didn’t know who He really was or what they were doing. He even asked God to forgive them. That’s huge. It boggles my mind. I can’t count how many times I’ve had incongruous thoughts about others who have wronged me or others I care about. I am a fallible human and I fall every day, but I keep on trying.

Mr. FixIt and I “had coffee” with our dear friends over FaceTime the other day. Our political persuasions are in tune with each other and we often discuss current events during our visits. At one point, the conversation turned to “forgiveness.” As a Christian, we are bound to follow Jesus’ example and forgive others. 

Matthew 6:14-15 says, “If you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” It’s not optional. It’s not a suggestion. It’s mandatory.

The Bible also says, “Do not judge, or you will be judged.” There’s a lot going on in Matthew.

In the Message translation of Galatians 5:19-21 it says there are sins that will keep you out of heaven… “It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.”

Let me draw your attention to part of that scripture… “the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival.” This is what many are doing in this country. We don’t need to devolve into who’s doing what and point fingers…too many are doing it and it’s ripping the fabric of our decency…our core values. We can be better than this. We MUST be better than this. It breaks my heart to see people act this way.

There are some we simply cannot forgive. Jesus says in Luke 13:3,5, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” We cannot read into Luke 24:34, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” That was in regard to those who were crucifying him. You cannot correlate that with the Nazis and the Holocaust, for instance. The Nazis did not repent and ask for forgiveness of the Jews. 

I’ve read that all are forgiven of their sins through Christ’s blood. But not all are saved if they have not repented and laid down their sins. Which circles us back around to forgiveness. Where I find myself is this…while I may not love the actions of some, it is not my place to judge them. I do not like what they do, yet I know we are all fallible. So I turn my energies to taking the log out of my own eye, and praying for the souls of others. 

This brings me some measure of peace in these turbulent times. 

🙏🏼

”“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.“

Matthew 7:1-5 MSG