The Plumbline

Life is an adventure in forgiveness.  (Norman Cousins) I came across this little quote the other day and it made me think about all the ways forgiveness is both needed and given. If you are like me, your first thoughts gravitate toward 'who' we need to forgive and 'what' the offense was that required the forgiveness in the first place. We usually think about others when we begin to think upon forgiveness - someone that has done or said something that has hurt us, bringing harm to us either intentionally or completely without any ill will at all. I wonder...just how many times do we think of the 'who' in this business of forgiveness as ourselves? You know what...you and I need to forgive ourselves, too. We hold ourselves in a position of 'debtors' way too often - unwilling to forgive our own trespasses! All that does is keep us on the hamster wheel of trying to find a way to get out of 'debtor's prison'! Who can see his own mistakes? Forgive m...

Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others—never finish paying that! For if you love them, you will be obeying all of God’s laws, fulfilling all his requirements. ( Romans 13:8 TLB ) I sometimes use a credit card, but I am sure the banks aren't excited by the fact I don't carry a balance long enough to even pay any interest on it! I use it and pay it off - not liking to have debt. It is one of those cards that actually returns a little money to me by accumulating points with each purchase. I have managed to buy a new computer that way and a tablet, not to mention getting occasional gift cards. So, all in all, it is one practice that has served me well. There is one debt that I will always owe, though - the debt of love. For all of my life I will always be taking steps to 'pay off' that debt! Some think of debt as a liability. When it comes to loving as Christ loved us, it isn't so much a liability, but an outflow of that love. It is the consideration of...

Forgiveness is not one of those things we fall into naturally - it is definitely a "learned art" because it takes a whole lot of practice to really get it right!  At first, we think we forgive just by telling someone it is okay, but still expecting them to somehow "repay" the debt caused by their misdeed.  After a while, we learn we are not supposed to hold the debt against them, which raises the bar for us a whole lot because we have to let the debtor off the hook!  It is one thing to let go of the hurt caused by the infraction, but quite another to actually let go of whatever we feel we are "owed" because of it!  Two common things we struggle with as it applies to forgiveness is the debt owed and the sense that the circumstances cannot be forgotten.  As long as we hold the debt in our heart and/or the memory in our minds, we still have some strings attached - the person is not totally released as far as we are concerned. As you can see, this is definite...

9  Overlook an offense and bond a friendship;    fasten on to a slight and—good-bye, friend!  (Proverbs 17:9 The Message) The Amplified Bible puts this passage this way:   He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.   To cover an offense is more than just overlooking it in a casual manner, responding with a flippant attitude that "it didn't really matter".  Sometimes, I think we get a little confused with what it means to overlook an offense.  You see, in friendship, there will be repeated offenses - that is a given.  We don't set out to offend, but we find ourselves doing it sometimes without really noticing how our actions, words, or slights bring offense to another.  The Amplified Bible is a little clearer about the process of "bonding a friendship".  There is the process of overlooking the offense, and the subsequent process of forgiving it! When...