Forgiveness - Part 2

Last Thursday I shared with you in “Forgiveness – Part 1” how the Lord gave me freedom through forgiveness.  In that time of examining my heart the Lord gave me a picture of what was happening in me.  It was a picture He would use the very next day to help my children see the very thing that I saw in a way they could understand. 

My children had witnessed a colossal adult temper tantrum.  They came to me asking why that person behaved that way.  And here is how I explained it to them:

I held up my fist and I told them to pretend that this was a person’s heart.  I held up my other hand, open with my fingers wiggling.  I told them to picture this hand as an octopus.  And not just any old octopus but an evil black octopus and when we get angry or hurt this octopus starts swimming around our hearts waiting for the perfect opportunity to wrap its tentacles around our heart.  When we turn from God and give into bitterness and resentment because of our hurt or anger the octopus has found its chance. 

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”  Hebrews 12:15

Once the octopus has wrapped its tentacles around the heart it then starts to take root.  The tentacles start to dig in and attach themselves around the heart.  (At this point I held the wiggly octopus hand around the hand that was a fist or the heart and started to dig my fingernails in.)

Next, I told them, the octopus becomes like a hard black shell around the heart that no matter how hard that person may try to pry it off they can’t of their own strength.  Because this hard blackness is around a person’s heart they become very short tempered, crabby, they become very focused on self.  It keeps that person from having a right relationship with God.  It really hurts that person and then they end up hurting those around them. 

I then explained to my children that this is why an adult can have a temper tantrum bigger than they do.  Then they were so concerned and wanted to know how the octopus comes off?  And this of course was exactly the question I was waiting for. 

I told them that the only way for a person to get that octopus off their heart was with Jesus’ help.  That person had to first of all have Jesus in their heart but I also told them that this octopus could get to those of us who do have Jesus in our hearts.  But what we have to do is pray, we have to read God’s word, and ask for God to help us because the only way for us to get that octopus off is to forgive.  And to forgive someone who has hurt us is very hard, we can only do it with Jesus’ help. 

Then what happens when we forgive is like a huge light explosion in the heart.  The explosion is full of so much light that the darkness or the octopus has to flee from it freeing that person’s heart.  (I of course then had to make some bomb noises and have the octopus blow away:) 

I then showed them my fist/heart.  And on the heart were wounds from where my nails were dug in.  I explained to them that just because God gives us the grace to forgive as He has forgiven us it does not mean that we are not left without wounds.  But now our heart is free off the bitterness and resentment and God can start working on the healing. 

“He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.”  Psalm 147:3

What happened next was beautiful.  My kids were so concerned for this person that they saw act very inappropriately.  They wanted to know, can we pray?  Do we go to him right now and pray or can we pray here?  They were so sad.  They were so sad for the lives they saw effected by this persons bitterness and resentment. 

I pray that the picture I shared with them from my own very resent heart transformation will stick with them forever.  I pray that they would grow up with hearts that love and trust the Lord to help them forgive and to forgive quickly before bitterness takes root.