Did you ever hear the story of the mom who ran into the bedroom when she heard her seven-year-old son scream and found his two-year-old sister pulling his hair?  She gently released the little girl’s grip and said comfortingly to him, “There, there.  She didn’t mean it.  She doesn’t know that hurts.” He nodded his acknowledgment, but as she turned to leave the room the little girl screamed.  When the mom turned, she saw that her son was pulling his little sister’s hair.  When the little boy caught his mom’s glance he said, “She does now!”  Unfortunately, many of us tend to respond to conflicts in our lives in ways that are just as childish—and over and over again God calls us to grow up, get over it and forgive.

Eugene O’Niel tells the story of a man who killed his wife on what he referred to as “grounds of excessive forgiveness.”  He said he killed her because every night he would come home from work and she would say, “You are the worst, scummiest, sorriest excuse for a man on the face of the earth—but I FORGIVE you.”  

Right words.  Wrong Heart. 

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who have hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.  (Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve)

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians  3:12-14