Seems like every day is laundry day at the Van De Wiele house. So as I’m taking clothes out of the washer, I realize that, because of a loose string, a big wad of clothes is all tangled up in a big twisted mess. So what should’ve taken me a couple of minutes seemed to take forever. I could have just yanked them apart but that probably would’ve resulted in at least one ruined piece of clothing. I could’ve ignored it and threw the whole mess in the dryer but probably would have not only ruined clothes but it would have taken much longer to dry. So instead I carefully untangled the whole mess & located the troublemaking string. At this point I could have just cut it off or pulled it out but that would have only been a temporary fix at best. If I had pulled it, it may have completely unraveled the shirt. If I had cut it, it would have eventually worked its’ way out & caused more laundry dilemmas in the future. Instead, I tied it so it would not unravel further, and then cut off the excess. Un-forgiveness is much like a raveling string. Before you know it, that itty bitty string has managed to work its’ way in and around other areas of your life…where it shouldn’t be…and, if you allow it, it will work its’ way into other people’s lives. Left unattended, it will tangle & bind you, your family, your relationships, and most importantly, your relationship with God. You can ignore it, but you will end up with a ruined piece of your life that you will never be able to mend. You can cut off the person and refuse to forgive them, but you risk destroying yourself & others close to you in the process. And then you still have un-forgiveness inside of you just waiting to unravel & tangle up again. Or you can tie a knot in it by forgiving, snip off the hurt & anger, and move on. Either way, you are the only one that can deal with the mess. The question is, how much damage are you going to allow before you deal with it correctly?
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