Day 8 - On Forgiveness

The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day or daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

In the Lord's Prayer, we ask for a lot of things from God. We ask that he come again, that we are taken care of, that we are kept from doing evil, and we ask to be forgiven. In keeping with the theme of thinking outside the box for gifts, today I present to you the only thing we promise to do in the Lord's prayer- forgive our debtors. So often, forgiveness is the one gift so terribly hard to give. It is simple by no means, but it is one of the most meaningful gifts a human can give to another.

Today, think about who has wronged you lately and do the one thing you promise God each Sunday that you will do and forgive them. In a way, this is three gifts in one- one to whomever you are forgiving, one to yourself for letting go of the ill feelings you had toward that person, and one to God on finally fulfilling what is so often an empty promise.

The gift of forgiveness may not be easy, but the value is much greater than anything money can buy.

Kelsey