Mark 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. "
The moment it was clear I was to speak on forgiveness, God provided an opportunity for me to live what I believe.

In our family there is a mom, a dad, 4 sons, a dog, two cats, a frog, a lot of fish and possibly other things I don’t know about. None of us get a ton of attention but each of get a lot of love.
When I take my dog to the vet and they ask me little details about her life, I have to remember that for a lot of people, a dog is all someone has and it is quite normal to treat it as though it is an only child. I remind my vet of all the love we have in our house and simply say, “I don’t know the answer about her last BM.” Am I a bad mother, if you met everyone in my home, I bet you’d say no.
Gibson and Wilson our kitty cats, were born outside, and stayed outside until we were able to take them from their mama and bring them into our home. Each one was the size of our hand. We kept them indoors for their safety. As they began to mature, they craved the outdoors. As a mother of four boys, I am in tune to the nature of males and it was clear these boys had things to conquer in the wild.
In their own way each boy believed he was king of the jungle as well as king of the castle.
When we moved recently we were rather amazed that Gibson had daily activities about a mile up the road. We never saw him in the street and whatever it he did, clearly mattered a lot to him. On rare occasion he did not come in at night, but in the morning when the gang woke me for the AM feeding, he’d be sitting at the door, “I home.” Most nights however, he’d stay in after his roundabout; he has a favorite blanket on my son's bed.
When a week went by and Gibson didn’t come, home we began to feel it. It is normal of outdoor cats to stay away a bit but this was too long. I called my vet who is local to see if by any chance, he had been in.
“Yes, Mrs. Cole, I feel pretty certain someone brought him in over the weekend, we’ll give her a call,” they said. When they returned they said, “It seems she has given him away, but knows to whom, she is contacting them right now, please hang on another minute.”
Something went wrong and when they got back to me they said sweetly, “Mrs. Cole, you’ll need to take this up with animal control.”
They let me know he was alive but it appeared that the person who had my cat was not going to give him back.
It wasn’t an immediate response but when a few hours went by and I began to realize what was happening my blood began to boil. Not only was he my boy, a part of my family, but in reality he had been picked out of the litter, named and nurtured by my 12 year old son. You’ve heard of an angry mama bear, well that’s about how I felt.
I had to call the police, when animal control told me we were dealing with a theft. The vet could not give me any names, but I knew they could give them to the police. It would be cut and dry, or so I thought. When I didn’t hear from the police I had a feeling my local paper could help, and they wanted to.
One of my neighbors showed up at my door. She was terribly distraught as the police had shown up at her house; she had been named by the woman who picked Gibson up initially. She was blood boiling mad, and though I had nothing to do with naming her she was furious at me, calling a lawyer and all sorts of things I am not used to.
My heart was broken, I was being mistreated, not only by someone keeping a piece of my heart, but now by a neighbor who more than once brought me to tears with her vehement anger about her implications.
I couldn’t sleep, I was devastated. I cried out to the Lord and this is what He said.
Luke 6:27
27"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Colossians 3:13 Forgive as the Father has forgiven you.
It was clear what His perspective was, but how? How could I love someone who had mistreated me in such a way to my face and whom I had little doubt was capable of something so cold-hearted like keeping my son’s cat.
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Matthew 6:14-16
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
All the verses and examples I had lined up for my talk on forgiveness, took on a whole new meaning. I decided to forgive and to love, even though I was struggling with accomplishing it.
Deciding to do it, gave me no room to camp in my bitterness whatsoever. It was clear my resentment towards someone that the Lord loved was a major sin and regardless of the size of the wrong, I had to forgive.
Matthew 13
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
For my talk I had been wrapped up in the incomprehensible crime committed, out of the bitterness of one man’s heart; against the precious Amish community in Lancaster PA, in 2006. More incomprehensible than what Charles Roberts did to the least of these; was the response of the Amish community. From the scene of the crime where 10 of their little girls had been executed or wounded, the fathers, grandfathers, and elders of the community loaded up their buggy and went to the home of the assailant to love and care for his wife and children. From the scene of the crime! How could I hold someone in contempt for keeping my cat?
Another example was the five American missionaries who went to Ecuador and were brutally speared to death by a savage Stone Age tribe of Indians and yet two years later, the wife and sister of two of the murdered missionaries walked into the jungle to live with the same people who had murdered the men they loved. As a result, the Aucas (now known as the Waodani) are a changed people.
After deciding to obey the Lord, diving into scripture, looking to Godly role models, I can say I have not only forgiven this person, but I can genuinely pray blessings over her and her family.
It is liberating to let my cat go, to love one who was once my enemy and to honor God, no matter how I feel.
I wonder if you struggle in areas of forgiveness too. I hope you can do what I did and live in the freedom I feel today.
- Agree with what the bible says and intend to obey the word of God.

James 1
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does
Remember the forgiveness you received freely from God
Mark 11:25
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Pray, the Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:19
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Speak it; let it out of your mouth so you will have accountability. "I am going to forgive ..."
Put yourself in another’s shoes; ask the Lord for His compassion.
Find a role model to follow
Luke 23:54
“Forgive them Father for they know not what they do”
Acts 7: 59-60
59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
- The Amish
- Elisabeth Elliot
- Corrie ten Boom
- The Lord
Movies to inspire: End of The Spear, Fire Proof, Amish Grace
1 Corintians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
