#12 Each Other

The focus of posts up to now has been on our relationship to God - how it was created, how we messed it up, and how God provided a way to heal that relationship - through Jesus. But everyone also has a second consequence of sin (see Post #7): our relationships with each other. But "the other guy" is not God, who forgives perfectly because of Jesus' sacrifice, and "the other guy" probably has difficulty dealing with my offense against him or her. And since I feel "the other guy" has also offended me, clearing the relationship is complicated, and takes work to restore. But this restoration work is so important, it's even included the Lord's Prayer. - "Forgive us our trespasses (sins), as we forgive those that trespass (sin) against us." In one direction, I need to forgive the other guy's offense against me. Not easy. But not forgiving is like my drinking poison and hoping the other guy dies from it (or at least gets sick). When you think of it that way, it's just not very useful. Forgiveness is letting go of any pay back. And there's no guarantee that the other guy will forgive me, even if I have forgiven him. But it helps, I think, to consider how much God loves the other guy - no matter how unlovable he/she appears to me. If God loves him, then maybe I can find a way to forgive him. And vice versa; I probably need to ask the other guy for forgiveness too. The words "I'm sorry" are easy to spell, but hard to say. Not always easy, but it helps to think about (a) how much God has forgiven me, (b) how much God loves us both, and (c) on how much He values our relationship with each other. https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-9.htm (thru v. 13)