Forgiveness

Colossians 3:13

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Yesterday I shared the story of the loss of my mother with readers of Heaven On Wheels. At the same time I am grieving Mom’s passing, I am also deeply saddened by the inexplicable hostility of my brother-in-law toward me and my wife.

My sister suffered a severe stroke last May and her cognition has been affected since that time. We have repeatedly offered our desire to assist in my sister’s recovery as much as possible and have tried to communicate with her frequently in the face of her husband’s increasing attempts to shut down any method of contacting her.

I’m writing this the day after my mother’s death, yet her husband has not yet allowed her to call me or console her. By every worldly measure, I should hate the man for what he’s done to divide our family. But I can’t do that. As Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians:

“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:32‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I honestly don’t know what internal demons make my brother-in-law so hostile towards us, but we pray each and every day that we can be reconciled with him and rekindle our relationship with my sister. It’s what Jesus would want us to do.

We forgive my brother-in-law. Can he forgive us for whatever we’ve done to offend him?

Image by Brett Jordan via Unsplash.