Three Point Back

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If I cannot forgive myself for all the blunders that I have made over the years,
Then how can I proceed? How can I ever dream perfection-dreams?
Move, I must, forward.
Fly, I must, upward.
Dive, I must, inward,
To be once more
What I truly am
And shall forever remain.-Sri Chinmoy

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus told them to pray they be forgiven AS they forgive. (Mt 6:12) This is the only point in the Lord's prayer on which Jesus commented. He reiterated: "If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours.”

Jesus gives us another conditional statement:

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour AS yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ --Mark 12:28-30

A lot of our problems come from unforgiveness. It blocks us, it keeps us from going forward as, you see, it keeps us living in the past and there is NOTHING we can do to affect the past. Some call unforgiveness a “cancer” because it feels like it's all balled up inside you and if you meditate on it it feels like it grows and spreads like something evil or malignant that starts small and spreads destructively, something passionately and relentlessly malevolent, aggressively malicious with a life of its own. Resting in unforgiveness blocks us from being a continuous flowing source of God’s love to others because basically all we're doing is sitting in judgment.

Many times it's easier to sit in judgment of others because it means we don't have to spend any time examining our own short-comings. Yet mama always used to say, "When you're pointing a finger, remember, three are pointing back at you..."

We can understand, in this light, why Jesus emphasizes forgiveness to an extreme degree. Peter suggested to Jesus that we should forgive seven times. (Mt 18:21) Seven in the Bible stands for an indefinite number of times (and also a number of perfection), so Peter was saying we should forgive indefinitely. This is the correct answer but not the correct emphasis. Jesus proclaims we should forgive "seventy times seven," indefinitely times time times indefinitely. (Mt 18:22) In a parable Jesus further emphasizes forgiveness by saying God's kingdom is a matter of forgiveness and those who do not forgive are handed over to jailers, kind of making us prisoners of our own stingy nature and, thereby, prisoners of our own judgment. (Mt 18:23-34)

Jesus again with yet another conditional statement: "If you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you." (Mt 6:14-15) Jesus insists on forgiveness and tells us WE will not be forgiven if we cannot give the same courtesy to others. We must pass on the forgiveness He has given us by the shedding of His blood on Calvary.

What Would Jesus Do? As Jesus is being crucified, he asks his Father to forgive his killers. These are his words: "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing!"

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Almighty Father I praise you for your gift of forgiveness. If I am harboring unforgiveness in my heart please burn it out with the power of your love and the blood of Jesus Christ. Bless those people who have harmed me, those people from whom I am withholding love, and forgive me as well, if I have caused anyone to feel this way about me. I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.