It's For My Own Good

by Darla Noble

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink: for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

Proverbs 25:21-22

Gary was devastated when he discovered his wife was having an affair-especially when she announced that she had no interest in trying to repair the marriage. She wanted a divorce and wouldn’t even consider counseling. Gary had no choice but to agree to the divorce, but he did have a choice in how he responded to the changes being forced upon him.

But because he didn’t want his kids to go through anything they didn’t have to, he went to his ex-wife, told her he forgave her and asked her to work with him to be the best parents their kids could ask for.

She was surprised but thankful. When she asked him why he was doing this, he said, “Because it’s for my own good. I can’t be the dad and man I need and want to be if I don’t forgive you. I’ll be too consumed with anger and getting even and that’s not what I want for myself or the kids.”

“Wow,” she replied, “that’s more than I ever expected from you. It’s really more than I deserve, but thank you.”

Gary and his ex-wife, along with their spouses, have raised their two children up to be young adults of integrity. But that wouldn’t have been the case had Gary not know the power of forgiveness.

Pray
God, help me realize that nothing I have to forgive someone for is as awful as the pain my sin has caused You. Yet You forgive me without hesitation. Help me not hesitate to forgive so that I can be like You. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.