"If then I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet...you aught to wash one anothers' feet." (John 13:14) "A new commandment I give you...love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34)
Sometimes I wonder just how many believers actually get this? "As I have loved you". The other night in small group we were talking about forgiving and releasing those who have hurt us...and how difficult that can be. I believe that the greatest struggle lies not in the actual act of forgiveness, but in realizing and understanding the enormity of what has been done for us on the cross by Jesus.
"As I have loved you"...the "as" is sacrifice, the giving of life for the sake of others. The ability to truly forgive others, the power to release the anger, frustration, and pain, is only made possible after we have accepted the gift Jesus has given us. For, it is out of a place of personal redemption, when we know that we have been forgiven for our own sin, that we can risk forgiving and blessing others.
"There, but for the grace of God go I" I have been removed from the place of being a perpetrator of suffering and pain by the grace and mercy of God. The space between victim and abuser is very narrow, as is the space between condemnation and forgiveness. Sometimes, all it takes is an act of grace-filled courage on my part to bring my abuser into the place of redemption and restoration.
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