Places and History

Last Tuesday night I was able to have dinner with my best friend from college. Ah, good memories. Memories of His faithfulness and provision and the blessings of friendship. This picture was supposed to capture my love of campus, college life and the history of His work in my life. (It's one of my favorite spots on campus.)
One of the things we talked about was the foundation of our friendship, our shared faith in Christ. This commitment to Christ has held our friendship together, despite some tough times -- and mostly due to my own sinfulness and stupidity. It was during this admittance of my sins, from a period that I can barely call a walk with Christ (more like a forced crawl), that I was able to see I was not frozen by guilt, which is immobilizing and often unhealthy, but that I was actually grieving my sins, and the suffering and pain caused by them.

Here was a liberating thought -- that grieving is a healing process, brought and done by the Holy Spirit. It does not leave you trapped in shame. Instead, it fosters true repentance, placing the emphasis on the work of Grace in my life and not the presence of imperfections and the prideful belief that He cannot use someone as tainted as I. (See 2 Cor 3:6 , 4:7 and 7:10.)

Once again, this brought joy to my heart, and a deeper understanding of His irresistible Grace.

But as always, when we are brought into deeper understanding, we are often prompted to act on that understanding. It is not enough to know, we must become.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Repent, for just as your Father in heaven forgives, so you should forgive as well.

So much easier said than done! It is this history of lessons learned that visiting my old campus brings to mind. That I must daily remember His work in my life, and moved by His Grace, must also daily forgive.