“Some people don’t deserve forgiveness.”
I looked up from where I stood next to a low library shelf. J was talking to another classmate. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look sad. He looked confident and calm.
His unforgiveness* caught me off guard. It made me sad because I saw through his mask of confidence, and calm. He has still hurting.
Of all the words and sentences thrown around in my high school, I remember this. Verbatim (that’s word for word).
“Some people don’t deserve forgiveness.”
By God’s standards, all people don’t deserve forgiveness. That’s why He extends us His grace. We don’t deserve to be saved from sin and darkness, but He sent His Son to save us. We don’t deserve to be blessed, but He blesses us.
My high school lesson #4: Forgive.
That’s a life lesson too, right there 🙂 But it’s so essential in high school because it’s where we all mess up. It’s four years of making mistakes for each and every one of us.
In John 8, the religious leaders wanted Jesus to condemn a woman caught in adultery, but Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v7). Nobody did because everyone of them has sinned.
Everyone sins. We all make mistakes. But the most perfect One is waiting to forgive us. And He wants us to forgive others (Matt 6:14-15) because harboring unforgiveness in our hearts hinders us from coming to Him. It’s dedicating a part of your heart to anger and hurt.
Everyone in high school will make mistakes, over and over again. Some things will hurt more, and some people are downright mean. But if you don’t forgive them, you will hinder yourself from getting closer to God and living a life of peace and joy.
Let’s forgive others, and forgive ourselves also. Then our hearts can have more room for peace, joy, love, and God.
*So apparently “unforgiveness” is not a word :-/ The word “unforgiving” means unwilling or unable to forgive, but it’s an adjective. The noun is “unforgivingness” which is so obscure, word processors mark it just as misspelled as “unforgiveness.” Haha, so confusing 😀
Check out what I learned in high school here, here, and here.
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What a great lesson put perfectly simply! You have me reflecting on high school. You are so right…we all mess up sometime in those 4 years. Our mess ups prepare us for life because we keep messing up and grace, oh grace, is so important. Great post! Love, Rachael @ Inking the Heart