Welcome to the Jungle

When you poke a wound, the wounded animal will eat you. Even if you’re poking it to discern the level of the pain to come up with a medical plan to heal the animal. Pain will always override and the animal will eat you, or at least wound you.

This is why Jesus tells us to forgive. He knew that while we were going around in His Name bringing the wounded to be healed and set free that sometimes they would turn on us. Not only that, Jesus knew that even after we were converted that there would be lingering sin in our lives that would be painful for us to live with and when confronted about it we would lash out at those who come to help us. Again, this is why forgiveness is so important. In the Gospels, Jesus taught extensively about forgiveness. He did this because He knew how key forgiveness is to living a life that is pleasing to God.

When you do something that offends someone, which reminds me about someone I need to ask forgiveness from, (did it, hope she forgives me…) as soon as you think of it. And when someone offends you then you have the choice to hold an offense against them or forgive them. Holding an offense does nothing to the person who you hold it against. It’s like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. But to forgive, it frees you from bitterness that would otherwise take root. I’ll tell you a little story.

When I was a little girl I had a man in my life who was older and he hurt me in ways that some older men hurt little girls. And he told me that it was my fault because after all, I let him do it so I must have liked it, and since I liked it that made me a bad girl. Since I was a bad girl he didn’t really want to tell my mom and dad but he would if I “made him”. You get the picture. He was a well loved member of our family who was trusted and I believed him when I was a little girl. But then I grew up and when I met Jesus Christ, He told me all about who I really am in Him, a princess, pure and whole, reserved for Him but there was a requirement from me. I had to forgive. Took me a while, but you know what? I would have never been able to write about this before I forgave him. There was too much pain. I couldn’t even speak of it without tears that flowed freely and anger that would burn in my chest. Now I feel badly for that man. He wasted his life, ruined God only knows how many children and unless he comes to know Jesus Christ he will burn in Hell. I pray he meets Jesus and finds forgiveness.  

Jesus knew that the only antidote to the pain that will eat us alive is forgiveness. That is the lesson I learned in the jungle of my childhood. I pray you never have to walk in the jungle I survived as a child, but if you find yourself in a jungle of your own remember this, forgiveness is the antidote to the pain.