Wednesday, May 30th, 2018

Yesterday the well-known comedian Rosanne Barr tweeted something that was received as racist and her prime time show was abruptly cancelled. It did not take long for thousands of people to tweet, post, and comment their disdain for her and roundly denounce her as a racist. This type of knee jerk reaction is nothing new, but exposes a deep flaw in humanity: the lack of forgiveness. Nothing in life is easier than joining a shouting mob. Nothing is harder than publicly forgiving the one at whom the mob is shouting. But do you know where Jesus would be in a situation like this? Look no further than how he treats the woman accused of adultery in John 8. He did not belittle her sin as if it was nothing, but he did not condemn her for it. He forgave her. To be a Christian is to forgive when it is the hardest, for as it says in Matthew 6, “If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Today, make the choice to part ways with the mob, and be the first to forgive.

“But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” — Matthew 6:15 ESV