It isn't about you

I read this today. I had heard it. I had seen it. I knew who said it before I had finished reading it. Yet, the words still seemed new to me. So why do I care for it? I care because of the last line; "It was never between you and them anyway."

I've been called a lot of things. Prideful, arrogant, selfish, conceited, self-absorbed, and other things I can't say in a public forum. And those charges, at one time or another in my life, have been true. But it's been a couple of years since. The strange thing is, these accusations continue to fly at me. Did others not get the memo? Did they not see what's up now? Do they not recognize faux-arrogance or sarcasm? I don't know but here's what I do know: God paid for my pride as much as for their judgement.

Forgiveness isn't a person-to-person thing. It is holy. Forgiveness doesn't happen outside of God in any capacity whatsoever. Mother Teresa's words ring true. "Do _____ anyway." Live you life despite of what others say about you or to you. Because your forgiveness of them is not for them; it is for you. Consequently, your freedom is not for you; it's for others.

Forgive others and show what freedom is; freedom is forgiving others. Although in our culture it isn't "proper" to say it like this, what happens is God forgive someone. You don't. The Pharisees were right; only God has the power to forgive sins. That why Jesus did it. That's why we say it; because Jesus forgives through us.

If you've wronged me, I forgive you. If I've wronged you, I hope you can forgive me because I've already forgiven myself. If you harbor that, it is only to your destruction. Be light to others. Shine.