Who do you need to forgive?

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The moment comes in a talk with the villain of the story. I have to be careful what I say here as to not write to many spoilers! My hero, Dare, is talking to about forgiveness while Paul, the teenager, and his mother Glynna, the heroine, are listening in. Dare tells someone (wow, I can’t say much without giving a lot away) that Jesus asked God to forgive the men who were crucifying Him. And this ‘someone’ says something like “God couldn’t have loved his son very much or He could never forgive such a thing.”

Dare references Matthew 27, the part right after Jesus died. This is paraphrased and shortened. Dare says, “A curtain in the church was ripped in two. There was an earthquake and rocks split. Graves opened; and dead men arose and appeared unto many.” Then Dare says, “I reckon God was mighty upset to do all that, but He forgave them anyway.” As Dare is explaining just how upset God was about Jesus’ death, Dare realizes that he himself hasn’t forgiven evil done to him. Later, Paul asks, “How can you forgive someone who would spit on you if you said, ‘I forgive you?’ How can you forgive someone for hitting you who will hit you again the next time they’re mad and blame you for it every time?”

Writing this helped me explore the anger Paul and Glynna and Dare, as well as so many of us, carry around inside. Paul’s anger was hurting only him because the man he hated so much was dead. But that anger was spilling over on everyone he was near, hurting them and hurting Paul. The forgiveness God calls us to in a situation like this isn’t for those we forgive, it’s for us.

I’ve been remembering that when I think I’ve got a lot to forgive, just how enraged God was over Jesus’ death and how heartbroken and how forgiving. How can we do less?

Who do you need to #forgive today? @MargaretMcSweeney @MaryConnealy
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Mary Connealy writes fun and lively “romantic comedy with cowboys” for the inspirational market. She is the author of Swept Away and Fired Up, books 1 & 2 of the Trouble in Texas Series, and the bestselling Kincaid Brides, Lassoed in Texas, Montana Marriages, and Sophie’s Daughters series, and she has been a finalist for a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Readers Choice Awards and a two time winner of the Carol Award. She lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her husband, Ivan, and has four grown daughters.

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