Forgiveness

“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11:4

Pete Peterson served in the Vietnam War, where his F-4 Phantom II fighter was shot down on September 10, 1966. He spent six years in prison, a period he described as “hours and hours of boredom, spliced with moments of stark terror.”

Peterson won and served three terms in the U.S. Congress from 1991 to 1996.

In the late 1990s, Peterson was appointed U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. Returning to Vietnam may have caused dread for others. But when asked how he could return to the land where he’d endured years of starvation, brutality and torture, he replied, “I’m not angry. I left that at the gates of the prison when I walked out in 1972. I just left it behind me and decided to move forward with my life.”

All of us need forgiveness and all of us need to forgive others. So seek to forgive all that have wronged you.

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” –Alexander Pope

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” – Colossians 3:13