How a Friend Taught Me the Theology of Forgiveness

When I struggled to forgive, God whispered one word into my heart. It was the name of a friend who had lived out radical mercy.

Last week, I was struggling mightily with forgiving others.

On Friday morning, I posted something online regarding the unfair characterization of immigrants. I’m not going to quote it; this is not the proper avenue to rehash that discussion. When I posted it, I thought it was relatively innocuous. But it drew significant criticism, and I was hurt by some of these remarks. (I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right: If you post anything on Facebook, you should be emotionally prepared for pushback.)

My hurt was accentuated by the fact that several family members were physically suffering. Without going into much detail, suffice it to say that two days before my post, my daughter had an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist. On the day of my post, my wife had an appointment for an MRI due to a car accident that she has been suffering from since early December. Thus, the comments struck me a little more deeply. And I had a tough time forgiving those who had made these negative posts.

The next morning, I woke up with that same unforgiveness gnawing away at me; a bad night’s sleep hadn’t cured it. But just a few minutes later, before I even had a chance to sip my morning coffee, I received a spark of grace. God put one word — one name — in my mind and heart that melted away my unforgiveness. The word: Echaniz.

Continued below.