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"I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs."
The Gospel of forgiveness is old, very old! The Gospel of forgiveness is new! Always new and fresh when it relieves a sinner of the burden of guilt and the nagging conscience. I can see how hard the Gospel is to believe when I look at my Own children. Recently our two oldest collaborated to break a window. That was not good, but what bothered me the most was that they didn't tell me, and I happened to discover the "crime" while walking past their bedroom. When I gathered them together for a "tell it like it is session," I heard them out, and their repentance was real. I asked them why they didn't tell me about it, and they said, "Dad, we were afraid to." I told them they never have to be afraid of me. They said it was good to be reminded of that, and they would try to do better and to remember not to be afraid of me.
My point? I assured them of my forgiveness, and we even worked out a little plan (Penance?) wherein they would have to work off what it would cost to replace the window-glass at so much per hour. (The five-year-old can't do much, but, by golly, he can do something!) Later in the day, I noticed them going out of their way to do extra things, to be nice to me, to be overly-helpful. That evening we went fishing in the Menonimee River. I brought along a can of pop for each of them, and we were having a good time. During one of the lulls in fishing, the older child (he's eight) turned to me and said "Dad are you still mad at me?" Before I could answer, I could tell the younger child was hanging on to every word of the answer. I smiled, shook my head, and wondered what else I could do to assure them! Finally, I said, "Guys, I'm a pastor, and sometimes I think I ought to have something new and catchy to say on Sunday. Now I know the Gospel of Jesus is always new! No! I'm not angry. I forgave you. If it will help I forgive you again!"
-- Schroeder
"I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs."
The Gospel of forgiveness is old, very old! The Gospel of forgiveness is new! Always new and fresh when it relieves a sinner of the burden of guilt and the nagging conscience. I can see how hard the Gospel is to believe when I look at my Own children. Recently our two oldest collaborated to break a window. That was not good, but what bothered me the most was that they didn't tell me, and I happened to discover the "crime" while walking past their bedroom. When I gathered them together for a "tell it like it is session," I heard them out, and their repentance was real. I asked them why they didn't tell me about it, and they said, "Dad, we were afraid to." I told them they never have to be afraid of me. They said it was good to be reminded of that, and they would try to do better and to remember not to be afraid of me.
My point? I assured them of my forgiveness, and we even worked out a little plan (Penance?) wherein they would have to work off what it would cost to replace the window-glass at so much per hour. (The five-year-old can't do much, but, by golly, he can do something!) Later in the day, I noticed them going out of their way to do extra things, to be nice to me, to be overly-helpful. That evening we went fishing in the Menonimee River. I brought along a can of pop for each of them, and we were having a good time. During one of the lulls in fishing, the older child (he's eight) turned to me and said "Dad are you still mad at me?" Before I could answer, I could tell the younger child was hanging on to every word of the answer. I smiled, shook my head, and wondered what else I could do to assure them! Finally, I said, "Guys, I'm a pastor, and sometimes I think I ought to have something new and catchy to say on Sunday. Now I know the Gospel of Jesus is always new! No! I'm not angry. I forgave you. If it will help I forgive you again!"
-- Schroeder
