Last Call: Forgiveness

It's one of life's funny twists that has me writing this right after I wrote Closure. That was random, this is my life, today....


In the past, when I have decided that someone would no longer be a part of my life I have been able to make a clean break from them. But, the time it took to make that break is something that no one else has been able to understand. Sometimes, it takes oh so long that some of my present relationships begin to suffer, simply because other people cannot understand why I am still sticking around. But the reason is simple: When it happens, I want to be sure. 100 percent. I never want to leave with any doubts about whether or not a person should be in my life, and I always ALWAYS leave room for forgiveness.

Jesus told Peter in Matthew 18: 21-23 to forgive his brother/sister who was guilty of any offense 70 x 7 times (that's 490) for sinning against him. That is a lot of forgiveness. I don't know how I can allow anyone to hurt me up to 50 times and forgive them over and over and still have a heart left. And with all the different relationships in my life, it seems like an exercise in craziness, this forgiveness thing. I know it is very hard, and it is not the brand of forgiveness most of us practice, because how can someone hurt you more than once (up to 490 times, btw) if we claim to forgive them but never speak with them or deal with them ever again.

But I digress from my main thoughts this morning: the reference to the Bible came up because as I contemplated cutting someone out of my life last night, a third party "used God to beg me". And because of this little reminder I am torn. We all get to that point where we are absolutely done, where there are no reasons to hold on to a friendship or relationship because the other party has taken us for granted and shown by their words or actions that our feelings mean little or nothing to them. And this is where I am today. Today, I am ready to throw in the towel and keep things moving. I have all my retorts polished and ready "Life is too short to waste on one person" "I'm not stupid enough to continue to let this happen" "I cannot keep watching my back because it is hard to trust them now" "I am tired of always forgiving the same old sins" and many more.

But I have not forgiven Four Hundred and Ninety times, not even close... ♥♡