Variety: Luke 23v34 (3)

Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing. 

Many of us pray similar words of Jesus when we say, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

When we pray this when we meet for Gathered Worship and in our personal prayers, sometimes we are not challenged by these words, but at other times we are struck how hard it is to forgive someone who has deeply offended and hurt us…. It is difficult to let go of the past and be present now to the other person and to all that it triggered in us…. 

It is hard for us to let go of bitterness that seems to rise up in our throats over time like bile—even after we have said the words of forgiveness to ourselves, and to others. We struggle to forgive the same person over and over again. Our broken hearts crack again and again…. But forgiveness is God’s greatest gift to all of us, setting us free to live as the beloved children of God. Forgiveness, more than any other act, perhaps, makes us like God.