We've all heard the saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." How is it that I find myself in a position where I have not only been fooled twice, but literally hundreds of times? Why is it that some people have an inate ability to forgive and to hope that things will be different even though they have been let down time and time again?
I think some of this comes with motherhood. I know that I am usually criticized by friends for being too quick to forgive my children. I have to admit that somewhere along the way I gained a soft heart. I can still be strict, but when my children fail, I am quick to forgive them and give them new opportunites to either fail or succeed. Sometimes it takes a few failures before they turn the corner and start to see success. But as a mother, I can't help but forgive and forgive and forgive.
When Jesus was asked how many times we should forgive, he said 7 times 70. The point he was trying to make is that we need to continually forgive each other for our shortcomings and our failures. But where do we draw the line between forgiveness and being used?
It is not always easy to know when you are being used. I suspect that I am being used, and inside things don't feel right, but yet I find myself forgiving someone for the same things over and over again, year after year. At what point do I stop and tell myself that this person will never change? That there is no hope left and that all my efforts are futile? Alas, love is the great conqueror and keeps me from giving up when all seems hopeless. I will keep trusting in God to give me strength and continue to show love and forgiveness to those who continually fail me and let me down.
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