It was a bit of a coincidence (or maybe not) that I had this
book on my “to read” list and happened to pick it up to read this week. Our pastor spoke on forgiveness this Sunday at
church and so our discussion in our small group was also about forgiveness. I actually had no idea what this book was
about but my mom read it this summer and told me it was good. I had it done in no time because I couldn't put it down. It is actually quite a
disturbing story and I had to keep reminding myself that it is a true story
because it just seems so unreal that someone could act with so much
evil. The author tells the story of growing up as the daughter
of a preacher and their family was terribly persecuted by someone attempting to
run them out of the church and the town. If you've never heard the story, I don’t want
to spoil it for you but I will say that there is a whole lot of loss and hurt
that happens – things that are, humanly speaking, unforgivable. After telling the story, the author (Rebecca Nichols Alonzo)
talks about forgiveness and how her parents taught her and modelled forgiveness
in a big way. She says we need to
practice speaking the language of forgiveness – just as we would learn any new
language. I thought this was powerful:
“This side of heaven, it’s easy to be preoccupied with
settling the score . . . of fighting back . . . of hurting those who have hurt
us . . . or, at the very least, withholding forgiveness out of spitefulness to
those who have wronged us. I've never claimed to be an expert on the
subject, but I do know this: If I allow myself to go down the pathway of
rage and retaliation, several things happen, and none of them are good.
Here are my top four:
My sins will not be forgiven by God if I
refuse to forgive those who have sinned against me.
I miss an opportunity to show God’s love to
an unforgiving world.
I'm the one who remains in jail when I
withhold God’s grace by failing to forgive.
If I have trouble forgiving, it might be
because I'm actually angry at God, not at the person who wronged me.”
If you can get through the horrific events in the book, it’s
worth the read just to see the outcome – an incredible act of forgiveness.
2 comments:
Do u own it? Can I borrow it?
d
I asked first!!
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