One of the areas of my life that I’ve struggled with is forgiveness.

On the other hand, when I offend someone and later apologize, I expect to be forgiven immediately. When I am the offender, I have a tendency to justify my actions and harbor my resentment.

Years ago, someone offended three of my grandchildren. It wasn’t anything physical or sexual, but it offended them and quenched their spirit. I became bitter and allowed my resentment to keep me in bondage to the person I chose to hate.

According to God’s Word, it states, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.” I just wanted to help Him.

All of this happened after I was a Christian. I knew what I had to do and what would have pleased God, but my flesh allowed me to hold onto my misery that followed an unforgiving heart.

Over the following months, I prayed and tried to forgive, but to no avail. My oldest daughter, Ronny, knew the person and my struggle with forgiveness. She’d often ask if I had ever put that tormenting issue behind me.

My response was always the same, “I’ve tried, but no, I haven’t.”

After almost two years, she told me, “Daddy, if you’re going to allow that person to send you to Hell, I feel sorry for you. I just ask that God not allow that spirit to be handed down to your children and grandchildren.”

I was reminded of the Lord’s Prayer. We must forgive as God forgives us.

Three days later, I confronted the person and asked his forgiveness for me hating him. He accepted my apology, and I was immediately set free from the bondage of unforgiveness.

One of the messages I read in my daily devotional this week was, “Walk in Forgiveness.” It stated that after President Ronald Reagan had an attempt on his life in 1981, his daughter, Patti Davis, said, “The following day my father said he knew his physical healing was directly dependent on his ability to forgive John Hinckley.

“By showing me that forgiveness is the key to everything, including physical health and healing, he gave me an example of Christ-like thinking.”

I’ve heard it said that forgiveness is a class act. Evidently, President Reagan had class.

 

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