Thank you for that word.  I have read and listened to his speech and I could not figure out exactly was missing.  I felt shock and disgust at his comments.

 

Ann Coulter commented that Obama essentially threw his grandmother under the train when he condemned her as a racist and defended his mentor.

 

Forgiveness is such a beautiful word and with such meaning, especially to us as Christians.  At this time of year, we "celebrate" our forgiveness through the crucifixtion.

 

Some of my thoughts about the experience of forgiving:

 

Matthew 18:21-22

 

Then came Peter to Him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  till seven times? 

 

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times:  but, Until seventy times seven.

 

I looked at these verses one day when I was struggling to forgive someone.  I would pray to forgive them, say the words, go through the motions and the next day, I would feel the same pain and anger and unforgiveness.  I kept having to go through the motions.  I do not pretend to understand all there is to know about numerology in the Bible but I know that 7 X 70 means infinity.

 

God spoke to me through His Word and explained to me that I am to continue to forgive.  Everytime the thought of the offense comes to my mind, I have to forgive again and again and again.  Just like God has to forgive me again and again and again - - -.

 

Forgiveness is not just a one-time vaccine.  Forgiving someone the first time is not always the end of the thing.  Sometimes it is but most time, depending upon the depth of the hurt, the anger and pain, forgiveness is a daily event.

 

My mother told me about her former brother-in-law who had hurt her very deeply.  There was a lot of pain and anger in her toward him.  She prayed about it everytime she thought about him and prayed for God to help her to forgive the wrong.  One day, she met him on the street, just came eyeball to eyeball with him so to speak.  She said she felt as if the plug had been pulled and all that anger and bitterness was gone.  She was free from it and was able to talk pleasantly with him.  It was over.

 

I didn't understand that until it happened to me.  With me, it was an ex-husband who had terribly wronged me and wronged my children.  I prayed about it for years but not with the spirit of forgiveness.  Then one day, I realized how I needed to pray.  Now I had been harboring resentment from 1977 to 1992.  That is a very long time to harbor those feelings inside.  I began to pray for him, for God to save Him and send someone to him to talk to him about his salvation.  In 1995, I saw him again and all the anger and resentment had melted away.  The plug had been pulled and it was all gone.  We were able to talk and to laugh with each other.  How pleasant.

 

When that happens there is such a feeling of freedom!  Why don't we do it more often?  Forgiveness is a choice we make.  I choose to forgive and float free or I choose to nurture hatred and angry thoughts, malice and hurt feelings.  I confine myself to a nest and set the "eggs".  Nothing good comes from it and I waste time and energy that could be spent more productively.  Hard lesson to learn but we are so blessed when we do.  The sooner the better!!

 

Then Jesus told one of His parables "Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to..."  And at the end of the parable He warns us what will happen to us if neglect to forgive.

 

In Matthew 7: 14-15, He warns us "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

 

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."