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I have to say that I had a really difficult time writing my talk for the summer program this year. I wrote page after page about healing and forgiveness and how important it all is, but it was like I was using a lot of words and not saying anything at all. I ended up tearing the papers up.
Then one day, the thought came to me: “The devil hates forgiveness; write about that!” So that is what I’ve done. I’m here to tell you that the devil hates forgiveness.
Yes, the devil hates forgiveness, and he’s doing all within his power to teach us to hate it as well. He whispers to us,
“Forgiveness is for wimps. It’s vastly overrated and makes you look pathetic and weak. You don’t need forgiveness for anything. The world owes you. Do whatever you feel like doing, say whatever you want and say it however you want to say it, to anybody.
“If you hurt somebody, so what. They probably deserve it, or maybe they’ll learn a lesson. Etc.”
I’m not saying that you all are thinking and doing that. I’m just saying that it’s the kind of thing the devil tries to tell us. The devil hates forgiveness because forgiveness takes away his ammunition. He’s still upset about his plans being thwarted in the Garden.
Sin is what wounds us, either the sins of others against us or our own sins. It is also sin that causes us to wound others. And who is in the middle of all that?
You guessed it, our little “friend” stirring up trouble and poking at our wounds.
The thing to remember is that he only has the power of suggestion; he cannot force us to do anything or say anything. We have free will.
I remember one time I apologized to someone for a comment I had made and how I had said it. The response of the person was: “It’s very easy for you to say you’re sorry and to ask forgiveness, but you always do that, and you will do it again. So I don’t forgive you.”
My response was, “Actually it’s not easy for me to say I’m sorry and to ask forgiveness. But I know my faults and weaknesses and how often I need to ask forgiveness.”
After that episode, I thought to myself, “I’m glad that God doesn’t respond to me like that.”
I think the devil was whispering to her things like, “She’s always like that—bossy, opinionated. Write her off!”
It’s true that the devil does whisper that kind of stuff in everyone’s ear, including my own.
The sad part about it is that I’ve been known to listen to his whisperings myself. The devil is a master at exploiting our wounds and our weaknesses. But the good news is that he underestimates our strength, which comes from God.
It is also true that the devil cannot exploit forgiveness, mercy, compassion, which all lead to healing.
I have an image in my mind that I think about periodically. The image is of a little devil within me, a devil with an arsenal of snowballs. As soon as he sees the tiniest crack opening up in me, he will throw a snowball into it.
For example, someone bumps into me and makes me spill my tea. The person knows she bumped me, but she just keeps on walking. That is the crack.
The devil picks up the snowball of irritation and throws it in that crack in me making it wider, making room for his next snowball—resentment. He throws resentment into the crack, and there it sits. Then the little devil waits for that person to come back so that he can throw the snowball of anger.
She’s back, and the little devil readies his next snowball.
Then he hears the words, “Sorry I bumped into you. I should watch where I’m going.”
I tell the person I forgive her and the little devil goes into shock. Now all his snowballs are melting, and he is frantically trying to make more from the resulting slush.
This sounds like a child’s imagery, but it works for me. I think of it when I need to make amends, or talk things out, or bring something to the confessional. It helps me become free of hurt and resentment.
