There is one area of the Christian life that our loving, merciful, patient God doesn't seem to have much tolerance for. It is unforgiveness. He won't forgive us, He won't even listen to our prayer, if we cling to an ongoing pattern of unforgiveness in our lives. This has puzzled me for a long time. There are so many sins and practices that are covered by the cross of Christ, and even Christians who have stumbled badly and sincerely repented, know that their eternity is secure.

      But, why unforgiveness? We see so many innocent people who have been victims of vicious lies and unspeakable acts. For some act, I cannot--and I am being brutally honest here--just declare that I, too, "am just a sinner saved by grace" and hand over absolution. Recently, however, the Lord did something magnificent in my life. He showed me why forgiveness-- in prayer and in life--is such a pre-requisite for a child of God.

      Unforgivness is idolatry. We know that when something or someone hurts us deeply, the pain and trauma causes words and actions to be deeply etched in our memory. Unforgiveness petrifies the act and seals it off from the flow of the Spirit's healing life. Over time it can become an idol that is visited and re-visited until it is the one reality in our lives and the determiner of our emotional responses and our actions. Only God knows everything about the situation, and, most important of all, only God is in control of the final outcome.

      We do not have to understand or certainly condone why many things happen as they do. We don't have to--and we mustn't. The souls of many have withered and died trying to ingest the artificial variety of the forgiveness fruit. We need, rather, to bring the area of unforgiveness to our Lord, lay it at His feet, remove our fingers, place our hands in our pockets, turn and walk away. Then we must open our hearts, minds and souls to the life-giving Holy Spirit as He brings new seasons to our lives and forms new, living fruit in us. As with all crops, we must trust and wait-- and keep the weeds pulled--until the harvest comes in.

Dear Lord, Someone said that sin is being anything less than You intended us to be. When it seems like a person or a situation has ultimate power over us, remind us that You, not they, are the God of our life and Your plans for us are wonderful.
                                                                                                                                           In Jesus' Name.  Amen.
Nancy S.
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