Boomerang
- Gary Fritsch
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
Forgiveness is a tricky little thing. In some cases, we are quick to forgive others but might not be so forgiving of ourselves. In other circumstances, we are quick to forgive our own behavior but not willing to extend this forgiveness to others.
I think that a lot of this has to do with motives and expectations. We know our motives and can know that we 'meant' to do the right thing. We also can have high expectations for ourselves because we know what we are capable of when we are focused on the good and so are slow to forgive ourselves.
One of the most important elements in this tricky business of forgiveness is to put everyone on a level playing field. Take motive out of it - you'll never really know someone else's heart. Remove expectations of your own goodness - I know that seems weird, but even Jesus says: 'no one is good, but God alone.' Our desire to be good, and our desire to get better is enough. The better we become at forgiving others, the better we might become at forgiving ourselves. And if we are going to be brutally honest, the ones who 'trespass against us' might most often BE US.
I encourage you to open everything up to the Father. Let Him see it all. He can anyway, but He wants to be invited into our mess. He is attracted by our sin. I know that seems weird, but when my kids were little, and they were playing with their new toys at Christmas, and something would come apart, or not work correctly, I would tell to the 'bring it here', because I knew I could fix it. I knew that I could make the tears stop and bring back the joy of play for them. God eagerly wants to be invited into our sinful mess - because He can fix it!
When we sin, we are always putting a barrier, or distance between 1 - ourselves and others, 2 - ourselves and God and 3 - ourselves and the most beautiful version of ourselves that God made us to be. So forgive yourself for trespassing against your best self and then invite the Father to do what He has promised through Jesus and forgive us as well. That, my friends is how to throw a boomerang.
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