The Power of Forgiveness

I preached a sermon once called, Forgiveness: From Scabs to Scars based on the very graphic illustration of picking at a wound and not allowing it to heal. When we leave it alone it scabs over and heals itself naturally, then the scab falls off leaving a scar. The scar says, "I got wounded, but I'm healed and it doesn't hurt anymore!" How many of us, though, keep picking at the wound refusing to let it heal?

The other side to that is choosing to forgive, to let something go and move on. Those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook know that I'm shouting from the rooftop about my uncle, Ronald Cotton and his new book, Picking Cotton. You also know that Uncle Ron was positively identifed as a rapist. He spent 11 years in the NC prison system before DNA helped to free him.

What impresses me most about my uncle is his ability to forgive. He could have been a bitter man, and hated Jennifer Thompson-Cannino (the woman who accused him). Think about it. Because of her positive I.D. and eye-witness testimony he spent 11 years in jail. Instead, he forgave her. He let the wound turn into a scab so that it could turn into a scar. His forgiveness has been so powerful it has perpelled them into a world neither of them ever thought they would be in, i.e., motivational speakers, best-selling authors, and friends.

Who do you need to forgive? Yeah, I know it hurt. Yeah, I know you can't believe they would do something like that to you -- but they did -- they wounded you. But will you keep picking at it or will you let it scab over so that it can become a scar ... a badge of honor, if you will, that says, "Hey, World! I got hurt, but I got over it!"

Until next post,
Dr. Angela aka "The Purpose Professor"
"Life with no purpose is no life at all"