“There is no forgiveness from God unless you freely forgive your brother from your heart. And I wonder if we have been too marrow in thinking that “brother” only applies to someone else. What if YOU are the brother or sister who needs to be forgiven, and you need to forgive yourself?” What do you think of this statement written by David Seaman?

A driver of a school bus, who accidentally ran over a child and killed her, wrote this, “You come to a point when you’ve prayed; you’ve asked forgiveness; you’ve done everything you can do. You just decide you have to forgive yourself, stop brooding over it, and get on with life. That’s all you can do.”

Genesis 45:5 records the story of Joseph’s brothers, who had sold him to slavery, now standing before him as one of the highest officials in the Egyptian government.  They’re afraid of the punishment they deserved.  Joseph tells them, “Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Have you done something in the recent or distant past that still plagues you today?  You have asked God to forgive you, but every time you look in the mirror, you cannot stand who you see? Do you know that your child has a skeleton in their closet that they cannot let go? Can God truly forgive us?

Columba was born of royal parents in Ulster, Ireland, on 7 December A.D. 521.  He was tall and strong with an authoritative voice, but Columba was strong-willed, combative, had a fiery temper and iron will.  Because of an argument that developed into a full scaled war, more than 3,000 men died.  Columba sought and found forgiveness of God. He committed himself to win as many to Christ as had died in the war.  With 12 friends, he sailed to Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland. There he founded a monastery and training center for missionaries. Entire tribes of natives in Scotland came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He remains Scotland’s patron saint. He was able to do great things because he had acknowledged his wrong, asked for forgiveness from the Lord and accepted God’s forgiveness. Can you and I do the same? Can we encourage our children to do the same? Without guilt and shame holding us back, what great things could we – or our children do for our families and for Bolivia?

None of us are perfect as individuals – nor are our marriages perfect.  As we work together to maintain our love and a strong marriage, our homes will be a good environment for growing and happy children.