Okay, God, you can go ahead now. I’m ready.
Ready for what?
Ready for my daily dose of grace.
Ohhh, that….well, let me ask, have you forgiven your sister of that little “misunderstanding” between the two of you last year?
No can do God. It’s too fresh in my memory. Maybe next year.
Okay, I understand. How about your dad? Have you resolved your “issues” with him?
Yeah, I guess…for the most part.
Really? Didn’t you just recently dredge up some old memories and hold it against him?
Ummm, well, yeah. But, just for the record, he’s a real thorn in my side. Everything he does is an irritation.
So, nothing has really been resolved. You haven’t moved past any of it, have you?
Well, not when you put it that way.
Why do you want my grace and forgiveness when you won’t seriously extend it to others?
Well, you’re suppose to give it if we ask. It’s different with us.
Enlighten me.
We need to hold on to those bitter, resentful feelings. It makes us emotionally stronger.
Do tell.
Yeah, don’t you see? If we hang on to those feelings, we can bring them out when we need a payback, or get the upper hand in an argument, or make sure someone doesn’t forget we resent them. It gives us an emotional advantage if we keep those things close to the surface. And how are we suppose to have pity parties without keeping the hurt fresh in our minds?
So what you’re saying is you really don’t need my grace. You’ve got everything under control.
Now wait a minute. I never said that! How else am I going to have a happy life without your grace and blessings?
You tell me. How are you ever going to be happy in the future if you keep stumbling over things that happened in the past? And by the way, what about that “sticky situation” where you weren’t exactly an altar boy? Should I remember THAT one and forever remind you of it?
Point taken.
I’m glad we had this little talk. Now, bend your knee, bow your head and get ready….
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed
our transgressions from us.
~Psalm 103:11-12
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
~1 Corinthians 12:9
Peripheral Perceptions 
This must be a message for me because I just read almost the very same thing in Wayne Dyer’s book “The Power of Intention”!
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Great idea – always harder to do than say, alas…
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
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Where would we be without Grace? I’m so happy that God has seperated us from our shortcomings of the past. Thanks for the beautiful post.
Ann
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Beautiful words. We should expect no greater than we give.
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“Grace, grace, God’s grace! Grace that is greater than all our sin”
Amen to that!
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Grace is a great word for G day. Carver, ABC Wed. Team
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A great and wrthy post! And it is true: forgiving is difficult. My daughter in Australia sent me a book called:The Source of Miracles by Kathleen McGowan.it’s about the Lord’s Prayer. Now I am trying to forgive the person who caused me and my family so much anger in the past few years. He stole a lot from me while he was doing my bookkeeping. I took this to court and I won. Now I have to forgive him, but I keep praying for this. It is still difficult. He is very sick, physically and, which is worse, mentally. I think forgiving is possible, but trusting? No, because he is mentally ill and believes that I didn’t need the money and he does. I also pray to be free from anger and ” to be delivered from evil”. Thank you for this post.
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Really nice post! I wrote something along these lines (although not nearly so well-done) for a friend’s series on mercy and forgiveness: http://blog.timesunion.com/kaczynski/the-argument-against-forgiveness-and-mercy/510/
Really behind on my ABC Wednesday!
Chris H
G is for Green Gas -or- How Cow Farts May One Day Save the Planet
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