Forgiveness

When I was a small boy in the early 1940s, my father, a church pastor in East Texas, taught my three sisters and me not only when we should apologize, but he also taught us that we should forgive if someone apologized to us. If my sisters and I argued with each other or angered one another during one of our sibling scuffles, my father would make us apologize but he also demanded we forgive each other. The lesson was easy to learn with my sisters, but it was difficult to learn if I was unduly harassed by a bully.

One Sunday after church, two teenage brothers picked on me by chasing me, wrestling me to the ground and grabbing my arms and swinging me around like a runaway flying scooter ride at the state fair. The roughness of the boys brought me to tears. Fortunately, our fathers caught us in the ruckus. The boys said they were just playing, but their father made them apologize, and my dad suggested I forgive them.

Oh boy that was hard. I could understand the boys having to apologize but why should I forgive someone when I didn’t start anything. I was a stubborn little boy but being fearful of a spanking (common in those days), I finally gave in and said, “I forgive you.”

My dad later explains to me that we need to forgive when others apologize. He asked me, “Do you ever ask God to forgive you when you pray?"

I said, “Yes, every time I pray I ask for forgiveness of my sins.”

He gives a little sermon about how God always forgives us when we repent of our sins, and he tells me the story of the Prodigal Son and how the father forgave him for going astray. He says, “Apologizing is asking for forgiveness. We should forgive others when they ask for it. Forgiving one another causes less resentment and hostility, and it makes life easier to live.”

I thank God for my father. He taught me forgiveness, which has brought happiness to my life. Forgiving another person relieves stress and helps me to build on friendships and relationships.