Forgive, Love and Welcome
by Trisha Winter
We are to welcome, to forgive and to love one another. These are three differently defined actions but they are interconnected.
We are called to love our neighbors even when we do not know them. Welcoming and loving our neighbors are closely related. This can also be seen as welcoming those who are different then ourselves. But, we tend to separate them, we welcome the people around us but do we love them? I struggle with this question.
When we add forgiveness to welcoming and loving it gets a little more complicated. How do we welcome, love and forgive someone who has hurt us? If we think about it, those who have hurt us are also our neighbors, as our “neighbor” is everyone around us. How do we forgive, love and welcome those we interact with, those we are in community with and those who hurt us?
For myself, I can forgive and move on and pray for someone who has hurt me. I pray that someday the one who has hurt me will find God and live a life following Jesus. Yet, in my own sinful way, I cannot welcome or love the one who hurt me the way Jesus calls us to. Forgiveness is the easy part of this, welcoming and loving is the harder part.
As someone who did not grow up in faith, I have found forgiveness to be easier. However, when it comes to welcoming and loving the people around me (our neighbors) I struggle with it. I only struggle with this when it comes to people who have hurt me. Forgiveness is easier due to finding my faith in Jesus Christ. I am working on this through prayer, as I am praying not only for those who have hurt me but also for myself.
I struggle the most with an ex who hurt me in ways that I can not move forward with. I have learned to forgive this man, but I am far from welcoming and loving him as a neighbor (a person of this world). I was broken and God showed me through Jesus how to forgive and to heal from my brokenness. It is never easy to forgive someone who says they love you, and then they cheat. I was broken by this man, yet through this pain I was finally able to see God and to see Him calling me.
Sometimes forgiveness is easier to do than it is to welcome and love. To welcome does not mean we have to invite them into our homes. Love doesn't have to mean the romance it is played out to be in society today. To welcome and to love is giving a stranger a helping hand, clothing you no longer need or want, or even giving a bottle of water to someone on the side of the road on a hot day.
To welcome, to love and to forgive can happen in so many practical ways. However finding the strength to do these is the hard part. Through faith, we are able to pull through all of our struggles and find a way to forgive, welcome and love those around us (our neighbors).
My whole adult life I struggled finding a home, a place where I belonged. I will fully admit that I did attend several churches after having kids. But it wasn’t until I had my youngest child and was in a state of brokenness that I finally found my home with God.
Do I love the man who broke me?
Do I welcome him as I should?
He is my neighbor (a person in my life).
I will say that I do forgive him, we are all called to forgive those who have wronged us. I have made peace with this. With God’s help through Jesus I am able to forgive this man and I’m able to pray for him as well. The rest will come as I continue to seek Jesus.
Call to Action
Please read and reflect on the following scriptures this week.
Romans 15
Reflection
1. Forgiveness or love, how do we choose?
2. When do we know we are truly loving our neighbors?
3. Is forgiveness forgetting or is it just moving on to a better understanding of faith?
4. In what ways do you show love to our neighbors (strangers who we pass everyday)?
