As Christ Forgave

Mrs. Brummel, if someone stole from you and then lied, would you forgive them?” I looked down at the fourth-grade girl who was asking the question. It was after school, and I was on bus duty, supervising students as they waited for their bus to take them home. This child, whom I barely knew, was asking my advice.

“Did someone steal from you and then lie about it?” I asked. She nodded her head in the affirmative and told me about a classmate who had taken a sticker from her pencil box. Then, when the teacher spoke to the other girl about it, she lied and claimed that she had already apologized for her wrongful act.

“I just don’t think I should have to forgive her,” my little friend persisted. My first thought was that all this was over a sticker probably worth a nickel, but I also realized that what she was confiding to me was very important to her.

So I talked to her for a little while about how forgiveness could be something she would do for herself so that she wouldn’t continue feeling angry.

I reminded her that she could control only her own behavior —no one else’s— and told her that I hoped she would always choose to be kind and compassionate. After the bus had come and all the children had left for the day, I pondered the conversation I’d had. Was there a grudge I was holding —someone whom I needed to forgive? I knew that there was. I realized that my hurt and awkward feelings were over things that were probably somewhat trivial to God, just as that sticker had been to me.

I reminded myself of all the things I had said to that little girl and realized that perhaps I should focus on them myself. When I struggle to forgive, I must also remember how kind and compassionate my Lord is and how His merciful forgiveness is extended to me over and over again. It is that inspiring, divine forgiveness that gives me the capability to let go of the grudges and hurt feelings that life brings my way.

Marsha Hammond-Brummel