Forgiveness. It’s a pretty easy word to spell, even easier to say, but incredibly difficult to accept. That eleven letter word doesn’t come easy for most of us. In fact, our natural instinct, when approached with facing the word, is to recoil and withdraw ourselves at the risk of being injured further. Forgiveness. Say it as much as you want, the sting of its true meaning remains formidable.
Possibly the most powerful words in the Lord’s prayer are – “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” I often stumble a bit when saying these simple words, more especially the second part; “as we forgive our debtors”. I find myself pausing for a split second and rethinking whether or not I’ve done that very thing the prayer requires of me. And so a checklist starts to play out in my mind. Parents. Check. Friends. Check. Girlfriend. Check. Neighbour. Umm… Ex-girlfriend. Umm… Stranger who drove badly this morning. Umm… Waitress who messed up my order. Umm…
As my list grows I find that perhaps, just perhaps, I have some forgiving to do. So I quickly mutter out the words, “I forgive you lady who made me wait twenty minutes for a chicken burger, when I ordered a double cheese burger” and rest assured that I’m in a better space, both mentally and spiritually. When it comes to the more hurtful forgiving, however, I realize that it might just require a little more from me.
Janet & John, our latest video production, is essentially all about forgiveness, our quest to forgive others and to ask for it in return. The story follows a happy and innocent fifteen-year-old girl, Janet, the apple of her father’s eye, who becomes infatuated with a handsome boy, John. He calls her “the most beautiful girl he has ever met”, but after they have sex, he moves on and completely ignores her. Sad and alone, Janet struggles with her relationship with her father. At her very lowest point she turns to God, asking him to forgive her and restore her.
The real truth about forgiveness, that difficult eleven letter word, is that if we don’t experience it and offer it to others, we will surely suffer. Let us remember, even in the midst of our biggest struggles, to return to God with a repenting heart and allow him to cleanse us. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”