Forgiveness...

Lectio: 1 John 1: 9-10 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 


Meditatio: This week I have been thinking about forgiveness. It's a deep topic, but one that I feel had to be touched on, especially this week. My meditation on forgiveness was thrown at me while reading a book by Karen Kingsbury called To the Moon and Back. The book is set against the lives of two people who lost loved ones on April 19, 1995 when a bomb ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In the book, Karen mentions the evil that must have been the driving force in the bomber. But you see that bomber, that terrorist had a name, his name was Timothy McVeigh. On June 11, 2001, just months before September 11th, Mr. McVeigh's death sentence was carried out. I called my mom that morning and ask "Is it okay that I cried this morning? Is it okay that I cried and it wasn't for the victims? Is it okay that I cried for McVeigh?" My mom, knowing my tender heart and knowing where I was coming from--this was someone's son, someone's brother, someone's uncle, someone's friend, merely said "Yes, it's okay. But why?" All I could think was "what if I am the only person who understands that he asked to be forgiven by God? This man, even though he did terrible things, was still someone Jesus died for, someone Jesus loved."

Oratio: God, thank you for sending Your Son to die for me. Thank you for seeing my sin and knowing that I'd need a Savior. Help me to forgive as You have forgave me. Lord, I pray that You will forgive me my short comings. 

Contemplatio: God has forgiven you, is there someone you need to forgive? Do you need forgiveness?