Where Is the Plane?

My mother taught me to never hate people, but allowed me to hate things. I guess that could include places, right? So . . . I hate the Atlanta airport. We are attempting to fly through Atlanta to visit my family in California. Unfortunately, the Atlanta airport is not cooperating. This is a common occurrence when we fly through the Atlanta airport.

I was waiting in line, annoyed that I would have to sit even longer than our original 3-hour layover with two children. The longer I stood in line, the more my patience evaporated. (Granted: the free refreshments the airline offered while we had to get re-routed did help, but only a little since the soda was room temperature.)

As I thought of how I would let the gate agent know how inconvenienced I felt, I overheard the woman behind me on her cell phone. (For the record I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, she was a loud-cell-phone-talker.) She was clearly frustrated and letting the poor customer service agent on the phone know it. I realized I had a choice to make. I could take my own frustration out on the gate agent, or I could take a deep breath and extend grace.

When someone says or does something to hurt me or annoy me, admittedly, I hash and rehash the conversation. I think of things I could've said or done to "get back at them." (I often chicken out in actually confronting others. I have an aversion to getting punched in the face.) So I complain to God about them. I complain to others about them.

And what effect does this have on my supposed "antagonist"? They aren't suffering from my negative thoughts. They aren't hurt by my awesome comebacks I've thought of but never said aloud.

They have never even noticed. They probably don't even realize they've hurt me.

Matthew 18:21-35 records the parable of the unforgiving debtor. God has forgiven our huge debt. Who are we to hold others' debts against them? Granted, there are times when we need to confront others who have sinned against us. (See Matthew 18:15-17 for guidelines to follow in that situation.)

We are only hurting ourselves when we harbor resentment and unforgiveness toward others.

When we consider how much God has forgiven us, it should cause us to freely offer forgiveness to those around us, whether or not they ask for it.