“And forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:12

The power of forgiveness

Unforgiveness builds a barrier between us and God. When we fail to forgive we cut ourselves off from the presence of God. At the time that Leonardo Da Vinci painted The Last supper he had an enemy who was a fellow painter. Da Vinci had a bitter argument with this man and he despised him, so when he got to the part of painting Judas Iscariot at the table with Jesus, he decided to use the face of his enemy. It brought him great pleasure to think that others would equate his enemy with Judas the betrayer of Christ. But as he worked on the faces of the other disciples he would often try to paint the face of Jesus, but couldn’t make any progress. He had a sort of “painter’s block.” Da Vinci felt frustrated and confused. But in time he realized what was wrong. His hatred for the other painter was holding him back from finishing the face of Jesus. After making peace with his fellow painter, and repainting the face of Judas, he was able to paint the face of Jesus and complete his masterpiece. This illustrates the fact that it is only when we forgive that we can “look God in the face” so to speak, and know that we, too, are forgiven.

lhart@gwi.net