Forgiveness

I asked the Lord to deal with my enemies, the ones who wished nothing but evil for me, the ones who never let you forget your past mistakes, the dream stealers, the phony people- I asked God to pay them back for all the miseries they had caused . . . but He would have none of that. "Have you prayed for them?" He asked me. There was no part of my heart that wanted to pray for them at all, but I did. Suddenly, I found that my anger against them began to evaporate- there was an incredible sense of peace, a "patience" that I hadn't had before. I began to think of the times when they hadn't been so bad, when they had even done small acts of kindness which may have been monumental steps for them. In short, what had been hate in my heart transformed into love. This doesn't mean that the people I prayed for will change. Some seeds you plant will come to nothing, but every now and again a tree can grow amongst the weeds. The prayers might not have even been for them . . . the person changed was me.