Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
-
Albert Einstein
Have you ever been, for example, so angry at someone that it seemed just so hard to forgive that person? It even got to the point where you were losing sleep over it, couldn't function at work or perform daily tasks and/or even became easily angered toward other people that were not even involved because you were so bitter?
And then you start to remember that old sermon that the pastor preached a couple of Sundays ago on "forgiving your enemies" and "keeping peace." But you
know the way you're feeling is wrong, and being the
faithful Christian that you are, you "must" have peace with that person that got you so bitter. So you put it in your head for the moment that "you must forgive" because "the pastor said so" and because "it's the Christian rules..."
However, what are we forgetting here???
It's not that you "must" forgive, but you should
want to forgive! It should not be forced! Because what happens if it's forced? Well that means today you can be "forced" to peace, but tomorrow, it can come back! Because why? You
didn't want to forgive in the first place! You never nicked the problem in the first place, and like an underlying, undeveloped pimple hiding beneath the surface, it comes up! Nastier than ever!
So how do we
want to forgive? Well, by
understanding! If you understand why this or that happened and how it happened and understand what to do to fix it, it becomes resolved! God wants to give us answers, but we just have to listen. With understanding, comes divine peace from God that
no man can ever
rock again! And you become a rock!