Forgiven

Today is Easter. I have a hard time understanding how or what people celebrate on this day if they don't have a personal relationship with Christ. A bunny? I can see the distraction at the Christmas season (I can see it but not excusing it) from the true meaning of the celebration with all the commercial hype and family gatherings...but separating the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross from the Easter holiday really seems like a lame excuse to eat some chocolate and ham.

The reason we stop to celebrate Easter and remember the forgiveness available to us has hit me in a new reality this year. In the past month I have had the heart wrenching experiencing of watching two marriages devastated by the effects of affairs. In one situation my girlfriend was the victim of her husband's unfaithfulness. In the other situation my friend is the guilty party.

Living through this time in their lives with them has caused me to see the forgiveness available to us in Christ in an entirely new light. In both these situations there are people involved who are willing to forgive and want restoration. There is unconditional love involved, loves that want healing and wholeness despite their own hurt and pain.

Daily I hurt the one who offers me forgiveness through my own failures. I may not be guilty of an affair, but in God's eyes my own sins are no smaller or greater...yet I am offered open arms of unconditional love and forgiveness. I pray this Easter that my friends will see Easter in a new light, too. That they will have hearts willing to forgive the ones that broke them. That they will seek restoration and remember the forgiveness they can receive and accept. That we all have fallen. That we all are forgiven.