Forgiveness - Dan Windham

It is with great humility that I relate the following testimony of Christ's power in my life. I recently had a relationship that suffered terribly at the hands of my own selfishness. I had grown so callouse toward my friend that I was virtually incapable of reaching out in love. There were numerous occurrences during our friendship that put me in a position of scorn. I failed to recognize where my friend was coming from in several attempts to establish boundaries and consequently developed an attitude of self-righteousness that manifested itself in scorn and contempt for the flaws I perceived. Right or wrong, justified or not, there was no legitimate reason for me to begin turning away from my friend because I failed to empathize or show compassion. I lost sight of the plank in my own eye in an effort to assist my friend in the removal of a speck, as the scripture goes. The problem grew to a point where I began distancing myself from any possible interaction. What I failed to realize during this process is the terrible hurt I was inflicting on my friend in an effort to make myself feel better. It was a very unfortunate attempt at a trade-off. I lament the pain I caused and praise God for his forgiveness. I realize I am unworthy of it, but know that his grace is an unwarranted gift. I feel fortunate to be in a position to seek forgiveness because my friend is clearly more forgiving than I am. From this experience I learned that when I'm adamantly pursuing my own point of view and desperately trying to convince someone else of it, I should step away from the battle and make an effort to understand where my adversary is coming from. It was the pain I had caused my friend stemming from my own selfishness that started the battle in the first place. It was only after I had been accosted and attempted to defend my point of view that I realized I had caused the whole thing. I praise Jesus for his gift of discernment and for allowing a wretch like me to feel confident that he will be forgive. I am thankful for friends like these who, in the face of terrible injustice, can still understand and be forgiving as Christ forgave us.

Dan Windham