Last Thoughts: the journey that changes us all
Some meditations on conflict, journeys and forgiveness.
Paul, always a prolific writer of letters, had plenty to say to the Corinthians. (How easy it can be to forget that Corinthians were the people of a city, not just the name of books in the Bible…) And one of them has a particular resonance in difficult and challenging times:
No temptation has overtaken you, except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
— 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
It’s always hard to discern who around us is struggling with temptation, or the tribulations of life. It’s what makes pastoral work so crucial, and yet so difficult. The Christian life can be a challenging one. And temptations are manifold.
The forgiveness factor
Right now, I’m finding turning the other cheek to be… a struggle. And if I make it through that, there’s the long slog towards forgiveness ahead. But sometimes that’s the price you pay for both your faith, and for living amongst others.
But I realised, many years ago (but many more years later than I should have had this insight), that forgiveness is much less about the person being forgiven, and much more about what you carry around in yourself. God charges us to forgive, lest we let bitterness or anger poison us.
When we walk with the spirit, there’s a literalness to that statement. And we should’t expect to journey through life with God without that experience changing us profoundly. Temptations lie along the path. But so too do the ways out, so we may endure it. And in that endurance, grow in faith and in relationship with God.
