30 Days of Thanks - The Miracle of Forgiveness

30 Days of Thanks would not be complete without the discussion of forgiveness.  Today I enjoyed a great discussion surrounding Matthew 18 23-35  in the New Testament.   You can read it here: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/18/6

How grateful am I for the gift of forgiveness and for all those who have forgiven me for all the times I am, frankly, a bonehead.  I have a debilitating disease..... called verbal diarrhea.  Some call it "lacking a filter."  My mouth goes into gear often before my brain engages, often resulting in embarrassment, and requiring me to apologize.  How blessed I am to be surrounded by those who love me and freely forgive me for my boneheadedness.  What a dreary world it would be if I could never be forgiven for all the stupid, thoughtless, goofball things I do.  Why then, is it so difficult to grant forgiveness to others at times? 

Yup, we all have felt it.  We love the sweet, sublime feeling when we say we are sorry and someone tells us its ok, and they forgive us.... but when the shoe is on the other foot.... sometimes.... its tough.... That is where Matthew 18 is so powerful.  The huge debt being removed... then demanding the relatively small debt be paid.  Why are we so human at times and unable to think like God thinks?  Why is it so hard to truly see each other as a brother and sister? 

Mostly  we are wrapped up with Pride.  For one of the most insightful writings on Pride, read President Ezra Taft Benson's remarks back in 1989 that are as valuable today as they were 21 years ago.  http://education.byu.edu/edlf/archives/prophets/bewareofpride.html   Pride keeps me from being kind way to often.    What does pride keep you from doing, saying or forgiving?  

The opposite of Pride, is Charity.  Charity of the pure love of Christ.   How are you doing in that arena?  If pride is waning , than hopefully charity is blooming.  With Charity, we can love as Christ would love and forgiving just seems to make more sense, and gives us the strength to forgive when it seems almost impossible.

So,  I am forgiving all the dumb things,  the rude drivers, the people who hang Christmas lights poorly, the people who can't count in the "15 items or less" line at the grocery store, Oakland Raiders Fans,  poor sports,  people who are mean to my kids,  people who think coconut should be a food, people who created onion bagels, thus allowing me to get a big, fat bite of onion with my plain,toasted bagel with strawberry cream cheese,  people who created horrible, foul rap music,   people who write political TV commercials,  people who are mean to animals, people who think animals that should never be eaten taste "just like chicken" people who don't return their carts at the grocery store, people who drive slow in the left hand lane,  and for every dumb, goofy thing I get annoyed at. 

To the big stuff.... that is truly hard to forgive.  The broken hearts, the conflicts, the profound sadness, the things that test me to the end of my rope, and teach me to lean on the Savior, I will continue to press forward in forgiveness and love, knowing the Lord expects me to forgive 70 x 7., and knowing he will assist me in all I am asked to do. 

And finally, here it is- if I have offended, or hurt you in anyway, please forgive me.  I truly do not want to hurt anyone.  And I am going to try harder to love, forgive and make a difference! Pride needs to go away, and charity needs to replace it.   What a great world we would live in, if we all did that, just a little bit better, just a little more often...one random woman at a time.