Frightened and Fragile leads to Forgiveness By Katie Kilgore

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love…He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. Psalm 103:8, 10-13

I have been a parent now for over seven years.  In that time, my husband and I have chosen to discipline our child with different forms of such depending on the offense.  A week or so ago we were faced with a new challenge in discipline that was not a fun episode.  Our seven year old told a lie.  It was blatantly obvious to us, but to him not so much.  It so happened that my husband has the not-so-good pleasure of being the disciplinarian on this particular evening.  As I sat in our kitchen, this is what I heard. “Son, you have lied to me and your Mother.  We don’t lie to you, so we expect that you don’t lie to us either.  I don’t believe that you have ever lied to us before, so I am going to give you a pass this time, but next time you will get a spanking.  Do you understand?”  Our son was sobbing like I had never heard him do before.   As I listened to the event unfold, the Holy Spirit gave me a clear picture of His mercy and grace that He freely gives us, His children.  If only we were as frightened and fragile from our behavior as our son was that night.  After all, forgiveness was all he needed…and it’s all we need from our heavenly Father.

Lord, help me to weep over my sins as my son did, and to weep often.  I am so thankful for the mercy and compassion that you show to me without end.  I am thankful that you allowed me the opportunity to witness an example of Your forgiveness through my husband and my son.

Amen