I love straw baskets. They come in every shape and size. I have baskets all over my house. Some contain books, others magazines and one is full of yarn. I love to take a basket to the beach and collect seashells.
I also love to take a basket outside when the flowers are in bloom and collect various flowers which will be used as a beautiful table display in my house.
There is one basket (I am ashamed to say ) I carried around that was full of grudges. I didn't realize until recently that I was carrying this basket. For years I have been carrying this basket, unaware, that one day I picked it up and never sat it down. As I look back over the years I now know why I was tired at the end of everyday. I was tired from carrying this heavy basket ful of "Unforgiveness, Grudges and Hate".
My reason for never sitting it down, well, if I sat it down that meant I had to forgive and forget the person that wronged me. Wow, that is a hard thing to do. No matter how much we love someone when they offend us it is so hard to say "I forgive you" and never think of it again. We are human.
But, If we are truly serving God this task is easier to handle. God tells us in Hebrews 8:12 (NIV)12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
If our almighty and powerful God can forgive our sins, then we should be able to live by his example and forgive others. I will admit that I decided 5 years ago when a very dear friend of mine destroyed the trust shared between us that I was never going to forgive or forget. My reason, if I didn't forgive or forget then I would always be on my guard and it would never happen again. Guess what,my plan backfired.
Everyday I carried around my basket full of the unforgivenss that I had toward my dear friend. Everyday I looked at it. Everyday my disgust toward my friend grew and grew.
Was this hurting our relationship? You bet!!
It was destroying it , chipping away daily at the love we shared, the years of wonderful memories, the bond I thought could never be broken.
Until one day our friendship was over..........
Did I want it to end??? NO.
Was I saddened our friendship ended? Extremely
I realized I was the one who destroyed our friendship.
Devastated , I turned to God's word for help. I needed help to fix this realtionship.
I opened God's word to Matthew 18: 21-35 and read The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.
I was forgiven over and over thru my life by different individuals but I gave no forgiveness.
I WAS THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT. What a slap in the face!!
I went to my dear friend, got down on my knees and begged for forgiveness. As I sat there on my knees ,with my head bowed and crying, I waited.....Would I be forgiven?? Did I deserve forgiveness?
The tables now turned I waited to hear those words.."You are forgiven"...
Time seem to stand still as I waited. . In the softest voice my friend said to me, "I forgive you". Just thinking of that moment as I write this brings me to tears. The shame I felt was overwhleming, the regret of all the years we lost enjoying our friendship, the piercing thought of how I refused to forgive, but yet was freely forgiven without a second thought.
My thoughts immediatley focused on my God.
God loves us and he was willing to send his son to die for our transgressions. As Jesus hung on the cross he said to his Heavenly Father, "“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[a] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Luke 23:34
God tells us that we are to forgive somone seventy times seven. We read this in Matthew 18: 21, 22, :(American Standard Version)
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven".
This experience with my dear sweet friend has brought me to my knees with my Lord, asking him for forgivess. I have made a complete circle.
Now when somone hurts me or mistreats me in any manner I immediately think back to my Lord hanging on that cross, carrying "My" sins but still having a heart full of forgiveness. I have replaced my basket which was full of unforgivenss with love and understanding. At the end of the day I am not tired from carrying this basket but feel refreshed .
If you are carrying around a basket filled with unforgiveness, I urge you to get rid of it. Carry around something that will bless your life, not destroy it.
