When Your Whole World Changes - COVID-19 Special EditionSample

Choosing to Forgive

I keep wondering whose fault this whole mess is. Everything is in chaos. Who is making the right decisions? And who is making it worse? 

Knowing who to blame would do a lot to settle things in my mind.

When things are out of our control, when we endure difficult situations, when we suffer loss, it’s tempting to think that getting answers about what went wrong and finding out who is to blame will make us feel better. That’s why conspiracy theories often arise during times of crisis. Answers may relieve the pressure of uncertainty and calm our confusion for a short time. But accusations and blame don’t change circumstances, nor do they improve our attitude and ability to cope with what has happened.

The truth is that dealing with a global pandemic is hard and complex. We don’t have all the answers. Unexpected things happen. A smart decision today may look unwise tomorrow. When we’re under a lot of the stress, we may judge people too harshly.

In hindsight, we all will have some regrets about what we’ve done. We’ll realize that we could have handled some situations better. We could have made wiser decisions. But we don’t have to stay trapped in the blame game. Forgiving ourselves and others for mistakes and failures can be hard, but it’s an important step that sets us free to heal, grow, and move into the future with hope.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:13

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

God has forgiven you.

 What offenses do you hold against others that keep you trapped in the past? To whom will you offer the gift of forgiveness that God has given freely to you?