“One who forgives an affront fosters friendship, but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.” -Proverbs 19:7
I am reminded of so many important lessons when I am out fishing. One such lesson came to me on a fishing trip with my family. We were fishing for alligator gar on the South Fork of the Trinity River in Texas. We had a wonderful guide with us to help us catch the big one. Our guide holds the world record for catching alligator gar on rod and reel. We were excited about the possibility of an epic fight when we hooked one of these pre-historic river monsters.
We had already been on the river for a few hours when I got a bite. The line began to pull from my reel, and we knew a good fish was on the other end. I gripped the rod tightly and set the hook. This fight was on! The fish wanted to go upstream, away from our boat. He was big and strong. I put the rod on my thigh to give myself better leverage as I pulled against the fish. He would fight to swim one way, and I would fight to pull him in another direction. My arms were getting tired, and my leg was hurting as I continued to dig the rod deeper and deeper into my thigh. I was not going to lose this fish!
It took a significant amount of time and effort, but I was finally able to reel the large gar to the boat. I was exhausted and the fish was spent. It was the biggest fish I had ever caught, just over 100 lbs. This was a fun moment and an experience I will not soon forget.
From that time on the boat, I was reminded of an important life lesson. We are called to forgive as God has forgiven us. (Colossians 3:13) To forgive another person is the let them off the hook. Forgiving another person does not erase the past. Forgiving one another means that we let go of the notion that the person who offended us or hurt us now owes us something. To forgive another is surrender the claim we have because their transgression against us.
Forgiving others sets us free. When I was fighting to reel in that large fish, I quickly realized that as much as I had him caught, he also had me. The longer we fought, the more tired and sore I became. When I finally got the fish in the boat, my arms were aching, and my leg had a bruise from where I had held the rod. When we choose to not forgive one another we are keeping up a fight that bruises us as much as the person we are keeping on the hook.
God has forgiven us and set us free to live a joyful and peaceful life. Let us do the same for the people in our lives and ourselves.
Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
