My step-father was a mean man. Alcohol drove his life. When he was sober, he was a nice guy, and that was not too often. But when he was drunk, I learned to stay clear. I remember him putting me in the car and driving down the road as fast as he could. He would laugh as he looked at me to see how scared I was. Just pure meaness. I would come home from school and find my mother beaten and I learned to be a man and stand in between him and my mom and take on someone twice my size. I called the police, I argued with him, and I once even had to evade a knife attack. I guess the good thing was with the alcohol in his blood stream his reaction rate was poor. I learned to hate this man. I despised him. My rage would boil within me anytime I would hear his name or see him. Thankfully, he was out of my life for many years, until one day while I was working in a retail store, I saw him. I hid and watched him from behind an ailse. My rage returned and I thought it might be time to see if he could go toe-to-toe with a man his size and not a young boy.
The only problem is that I had become a Christian and now the temptation was being tempered with Jesus’ words to forgive. In the back of my head ran the words that if I did not forgive then I would not be forgiven (Matthew 6:15). Like Peter, I realized that I was denying my Lord and in that retail store, I heard the cock crow three times. I ran away. I struggled for a while trying to deal with my hatred and a desire to try to forgive that seemed impossible. I knew it was time to forgive my step-father but he didn’t deserve it, but I guess neither do I, or even maybe you. I forgave my step-father, I still hate the awful things that he has done but I pray that his demons might be replaced by the love of God. I hope he finds peace. He is dead now and I hope he makes it to heaven.
Question: How about you…do you struggle with forgiveness? I think we all do….read Matthew 6:14-15.