...is a hard one to engineer, much less endure.
What do you do when a family member stoutly REFUSES to forgive others for real ( or imaginary ) wrongs ? What is there to be done when the counsel of FORGIVENESS as CHRIST forgave us... is despised and repudiated? When the glare of hatred emanates from the eyes of the begrudger ?
Nothing.
You can but pray for the sinner... and eventually, hurt for the grievous and UN-NECESSARY hurt caused by unforgiveness.
When sudden death claims that begrudger, you are only left holding the hurt... the hurt of your own heart, the hurt of the begrudger, the hurt of the person begrudged-against, and the HURT of the LORD, Who+ loves them all.
GOD is not mocked; His Word still stands as the ultimate TRUTH. No-one... yes, no-one... escapes the Judgment. And the judgment is this: That CHRIST has been rejected.
YES... When someone refuses to forgive , he/she is rejecting CHRIST JESUS, the author of forgiveness, the living example of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is forgiveness when we pardon someone who has done us wrong, not when someone has done us "right."
So, is a pile of rusty metal taken, perhaps, without permission, worth losing your soul FOR ALL ETERNITY ?
Correctly, then, there is no funeral service for the person holding the grudge. That, however, does not allow anyone in the family to bury their remains. And so, only hurt remains... with no opportunity for healing.
+ + +
In the Name of The FATHER, Who created thee;
His Beloved SON+, Our LORD JESUS CHRIST,
Who+ saves thee,
And the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT,
Who sanctifies thee
and brings the conviction
of the sin of Unforgiveness
to our hearts.
+
Amen.
