By Ngailun Ngai
Last year our Pathfinder club cleaned a widow’s house. We raked leaves and pulled out weeds. We worked hard for hours, but someone accidentally broke a pot. The widow, hearing the crash, came out of the house and started shouting at us. Our director explained what happened and said we were sorry, but the lady was not going to let it slide. She told us to get out of her house, so we did. Personally, it hurt because we had happily gone to her place to help her clean, but instead of forgiving, she shattered our will to serve by turning against us. How did I handle this? It was hard. I held a grudge against her and complained about her.
One night while doing my devotions, I came across Colossians 3:12-17: “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” After careful consideration, I prayed about it and finally forgave the widow. She might have been going through a hard time in her life. We never know what someone else is facing. It is not our place to judge. Let's leave that part to God. Love the people around you and forgive them as Jesus forgives us.
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