Did You Know?

Did you know that forgiveness is an act of will and not an emotion? I taught the Beehive today a lesson entitled Forgiveness. At the end of the lesson there was a story about a woman who was in a concentration camp during WWII. After the war, she survived the horror of the war but many of her family didn't - she travelled in Germany teaching the gospel and the principle of forgiveness. At the end of one of her talks, a man walked toward her to speak with her. She recognized him as a guard at her concentration camp, who brutalized her and her sister who did not survive. She had nothing but ill feelings for him as he walked toward her. As he reached her, he put out his hand to shake her hand saying "I was a guard at a concentration camp, but since then I have become a Christian and know that I have been forgiven for all the cruel things I did - but I want to hear you say the words, that you forgive me." She was simply unable to control her feelings of anger towards this man who had done such horrible things - and yet knowing that unless she forgave him she would never be able to heal, just as she had taught so many others. She prayed at that moment for help from above, that if she would raise her hand through her will to do so, that forgiveness would enter her heart. And as soon as her hand touched his, she felt an overwhelming warmth encompass her, and she knew that she had truly forgiven him and was able to utter those words. It just hit me that sometimes the hurt is too great for us to be able to forgive on our own. But if we can just make a sincere effort to forgive, doing all we can, then Christ can step in and his ability to forgive can become ours. I don't know why that hit me like it did - sometimes I have heard someone say, yeah, right they forgive that person who drove drunk and killed a loved one. But then we have seen the fruits of forgiveness and we have seen the fruits of holding a grudge, being revengeful or just holding onto the anger or hurt we feel when someone offends us in some way or other. When we have peace that shines forth from us, to me that means we are forgiving. Because being forgiving - frees us from all of those negative emotions. I'm thinking it is something we need to get really good at - because this old world is full of people who aren't perfect - and having a forgiving nature about us, gives us a whole new outlook on life! don't ya think? I do. I've been there done that - the older I get, the easier it is to forgive and then truly forget. Actually, the forgetting part is pretty easy the older you get . . . seriously, tho' forgive and forget is one of the best ways to stay happy!