Sowing Pardon (10/6/2021)

[Second article in a series on living Christ daily through the prescripts of the Peace Prayer]

“LORD, make me an instrument of your peace…Where there is injury, let me sow pardon.” The wisdom of this prayer is profound, for it reminds us that the primary reason for the incarnation, the life, the passion and death of Jesus Christ, our LORD, was for the sins of humanity.

Forgiveness is at the heart of Jesus’ life and death; those of us who seek to follow in his footsteps must be willing to love others as He has loved us which includes mercy and forgiveness. We must forgive others as the LORD in Christ forgave us (Eph 4:32) for the LORD desires that we be one, all of humanity. The LORD’s love is indivisible.

We begin by asking the LORD to make us vessels of his love in the world. And then we turn to pardoning others, to the forgiveness of the hurt others have caused us. It is fitting that these two would be yoked together so closely, for it is only through love that we are able to forgive: love for the LORD, love for ourselves, and love of others.

The peace of the LORD means wholeness and holiness. If we aspire to be instruments of that peace, we must be willing to set down those things that separate us. If we seek to be instruments of that peace by being at peace ourselves, we must let go of those things that prevent us from truly caring about the well-being of others. We can’t be instruments of wholeness if we ourselves are “broken,” harboring ill feelings toward another.

As people on the way in Christ we know that the memory of the pain caused by others will probably be with us for a long time if not a life time. Forgiving isn’t forgetting. That’s amnesia. Forgiving is treating the other lovingly with kindness and mercy, all the while remembering. Forgiving frees us and unites us.

As we go about our way, let us remember that are witnesses to Christ who came so that we might be reconciled to the Father, and be reconcilers ourselves, extending mercy to others as the LORD extends mercy to us. Let us be willing to set our pain before the LORD and pick up in its stead mercy for others. Let us seek to be the face of authentic forgiveness and peace.

Until tomorrow, love well.