May 16 - The Freedom of Forgiveness

Forgiveness isn't a feeling you wait for. It's a decision you make before the feeling arrives. Corey and Bill work through what that actually looks like — from page 66 of the Big Book to the cross. Forgiveness often begins as a decision before it becomes a feeling. Willingness opens the door, even when the heart is not fully ready. Bill opens with Matthew 6:14-15 — right after the Lord's Prayer, Jesus says if you don't forgive others, your Father won't forgive you. That sends them to page 67: the old angle was that the world and its people were wrong, and concluding they were wrong was as far as it ever got. The new angle is the sick man prayer — same tolerance, patience, and pity you'd give a sick friend. Forgiveness as a course correction, not a feeling. Corey makes it concrete. He asks Bill: what if I pulled a hair out of your beard? What if I hit you with something? What if I hit you 700 times on your back? What if I gave you a tree to carry, and then nailed you to it? And what if the entire time, this is what I was thinking — love is patient, love is kind, it keeps no record of wrongs. That's what Christ held in his mind for every person in that crowd. He knew who we'd be. That wasn't a belief for Bill. That's a certainty. The episode closes on John 3:16, page 164's call to abandon yourself to God, and the only thing either of them wants you to walk away with: Jesus loves you, and he always has. Find every daily entry at dailyripples.com. Reach out anytime at [email protected]. Daily Ripples is a daily devotional reflection connecting recovery principles with the life of faith. New episodes every day at dailyripples.com.