Bible Focus for February.
"Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sin is put away”
Psalm 32:1

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February Reflection

As we move into the penitential season of Lent we are often urged to use this time, up until Easter, as a time for reflection on our lives, and particularly on those things we need to ask God’s forgiveness for. And with that in mind Lent often has a somber feeling to it .But there is another aspect to Lent that we are often prone to forget and that is, at the core of it, is forgiveness. For as we move towards Good Friday and the cross we have ever before us the fact that Jesus died that we might be forgiven. Lent, then, is not only a time for sorrow and regret but a time to be forgiven and to forgive. A time to re-visit those occasions when we ourselves have perhaps caused hurt or been hurt by injudicious words or actions and ask ourselves if we have honestly sought forgiveness for them and even more importantly whether we have been forgiving towards others. The truth is that a failure to forgive is often far more damaging to a person’s spiritual well being than not being forgiven.

When our Lord taught the disciples how to pray at the centre was forgiveness. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” There can be no doubt that our willingness, or not, to forgive others has a direct relationship on how we ourselves are forgiven. One of the problems, I suggest, is that we often enter the season of Lent looking for the big things we need to ask God’s forgiveness for, and to forgive. Perhaps it is easier after all to make the grand gesture and receive acclamation for our honesty or generosity in forgiving, when in truth it is the little things that do most harm. Families, friendships, congregations and communities have had their relationships destroyed by a simple ill conceived remark or action that has gone unforgiven. A simple failure to acknowledge another in the street, for example, can be seen as a slight and before you know it, it can be blown out of all proportion never to be forgiven or forgotten. It’s often the little things that do the damage that eat away at the core of what we as Christians are all about and that has got to be forgiveness.

Yes, Lent is a time for penitence and regret but it can also be a time of joy for as the Psalmist so rightly says, “Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is put away.” Happy are they also who put their hurt behind them and forgive as they have been forgiven.

May this Lent be a holy and special time for everyone, a time not only when we are forgiven but when we forgive, especially those little things that have, perhaps, gone on far to long without being resolved.


Yours in Christ.