The healing power of forgiving

 Jesus told a story about forgiving people:

“Then Peter came to Jesus. ‘Lord, if my brother keeps on hurting me, how many times should I forgive him?’ he asked. ‘Should I forgive him seven times?’

‘No, not just seven times, but forgive him seventy times seven times’, Jesus said.

Recently I have read or heard about numerous workplace shootings that have taken place. The latest being today when a 58 year old former employee shot to death a younger employee over the loss of his job. This former employee indiscriminately began shooting innocent bystanders and at point blank shot his co worker in the head before being killed himself by the New York Cities finest. What would possess this man from taking the life of another human being over the loss of his job?  The pain of job loss can drive anyone to desperation, but certainly it should not give them a license to kill.  Surely grief over the loss of a job is a natural reaction to job loss. It is even quite normal to hold a grudge or being unable to forgive the company for letting them go, but when unforgiveness leads to the need to seek revenge then it is time to seek professional help to work through the pain of job loss.

I am sorry to have to break everyone's bubble, but life is simply not fair. Some people will be born into wealth while others will be born into average earning families.  Some people will be blessed with a uniquely higher IQ while others will struggle with various forms of learning problems. Some people will graduate from graduate school at the age of 16 while others struggle to graduate with just their bachelor's degree at 25.

As a Christian my model for how forgiveness should play out is Jesus himself. In the book of Matthew one of  Jesus's disciples asked him how many times should he forgive someone and he asked if it was 7 times, but Jesus said it wasn't 7,. but 70 times 7.

Instead of harboring a grudge against the employer it is important to retrench in order to come up with a strategy to look for a new job.  If new skills are needed then take a certification class in something that employers need.  Then surround yourself with professional and lay people in your life who will support you in your quest for new employment. Never criticize your former employer or your former co workers to prospective employers. If you do they will assume that since you are negative with your former employer then you will be negative toward them should they have to let you go down the line.

Because of this one man's lack of forgiveness many innocent New Yorkers were either killed or injured. This goes against what Jesus talks about in the verse above.  If you are harboring resents, anger toward someone won't you take the time to confess that to God?  God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for your anger, your hatred and every vile thought so that you do not have to be trapped by the power of those emotions. Jesus wants to be your sin bearer so that you may be set free from captivity of that sin.   Forgiveness leads to true healing.

I learned the healing power of forgiveness when I was able to forgive our daughter's doctor for the sudden death of our daughter the first night she came home from the hospital. Perceiving that he should have done a better job making sure the medications that were prescribed were compatible with her condition I harbor a lot of anger toward him.  Only when I was able to forgive him was I actually set free from the pain of those past events. God reminded me that sense he had forgiven me of my sins through the death of his son then I must forgive those who have brought harm to me.

Won't you do the same?