When asked by my husband what kind of flowers that I wanted to buy for the house, I immediately said without any hesitation, “Geraniums! They are a forgiving plant!” Of course my husband looked at me with complete confusion, because the two of us, in all of our years of marriage, we had never owned a geranium. Naturally he asked, “What are you talking about a “forgiving plant? And how do you know about geraniums?”
When I was sixteen years old, I was on the work study program at my high school. I worked half of the school day for a stock broker who had an office on our little town square in Covington, GA. Outside of the store front, sat two rectangular, cement flower pots, each positioned below a window. As you might have already guessed, planted inside those cement flower pots were bright, red geraniums. Part of my job was to help keep those flowers watered and looking good! Much to my shame, I overlooked that part of my job description frequently. It was so easy for me to walk past those potted plants as I entered the office each day, becoming preoccupied with other things, and not giving those little flowers another thought.
But their neglect always began to show, and my boss would kindly ask me from time to time, “Tiffany, have you watered the flowers out front lately?” Of course, he knew the answer to his question, but that was always his kind way of making me aware that I had neglected them, once again.
The cool thing about those flowers is that, every time they looked like they were closer to dying instead of surviving, the moment I began watering them and supplying them with what they needed, they always bounced back! They always forgave my neglect, and they always began to quickly flourish once again. New bright, red blooms would begin to form and their leaves returned to being lush and green. This plant was always so quick to forgive me that I could even see a difference in them just over night. These plants always bore the evidence of forgiveness, which allowed their health and beauty to return.
Over the years, I have had more experience with other plants, some also being forgiving, but others not being forgiving at all. There have been plants that I have loved and I have stood in awe of their beauty, but when the slightest overlook occurred, bitterness seemed to set in, and its beauty began to fade quickly. No matter how hard I consistently worked to bring these unforgiving plants back, they remained resistant to the above and beyond care they were being given. They remained in their shriveled up condition and their beauty was lost forever. This lack of forgiveness, this poison of bitterness that had gotten to its’ roots, became evident to all, and only served to cut off the life of the plant.
A heart that realizes that God has forgiven them of much will forgive much, and the evidence will always produce new, healthy growth that is evident to all.
Forgiveness has not always been easy for me, but God has opened my heart and eyes to see the bottomless supply of undeserved forgiveness that He has graciously lavished on me. In light of this truth, how could I not strive to extend this kind of forgiveness to another?
Withholding forgiveness does not produce any power or exemplify a righteous stand that we may be seeking, but rather it robs you of freedom, healing, growth, and the beauty that God desires to see produced in our lives.
In the heart and life of those who forgive, flows abundant life and continuous growth because it reflects a heart that has received true and lasting forgiveness that only Jesus can provide. A heart that forgives reveals a heart that realizes that it has been forgiven of so much, and so it too must forgive.
Just as the geranium bears the evidence of forgiveness, may those of us who are in Christ bear evident blooms of forgiveness- simply reflecting humble lives that have been forgiven of much.
Colossians 3:13, 14
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
Highlighting the hope that we have in Christ! 