Daily Worship

Forgive and forget

June 18, 2013 0 0

Jonah 3: 1 – 5 & 4: 1 – 3

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.  Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Forgive and forget is what we always say.
It’s just that I can’t, Lord.
I want to, but I keep replaying the scene in my head.
I know better what I want to say and do now.
And I don’t want them to get away with it either.
It’s just not fair how things turned out before.
Lord, forgive me when I think I know best,
forgive me when I hold on to a grudge long after you have let go.
Help me “forgive everyone everything”
and to let go (even when I can’t or shouldn’t forget).
Make me more like you.


“Forgive Everyone Everything” is a principle of Brothers & Sisters of Love in Chicago visit: www.brothersandsistersoflove.com to see more.

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Written by Bill Hunter
The Howe of Fife Church of Scotland