Forgiveness*

How does being forgiven affect the rest of your life?  If you keep asking forgiveness for the same old behavior, then there is no real change in your life.  So what to do to get out of this rut, assuming you want to?  I would suggest, that what works for me, is to take some action that involves being of service.  For example, there is the fellow who is paralyzed and brought through the roof by his friends to be plopped in front of Jesus who is inside a capacity full room.  Jesus forgives the fellow his bad behavior or sins as the story goes.  The fellow is still paralyzed.  He is powerless to overcome his physical difficulty.  So Jesus then says to him, “Pick up your mat and go home.”  Ah!  Be of service.  Get this stuff up off the floor and move on.  Clean up after yourself for the sake of others who are crowded into the room.  The man is no longer paralyzed.   This frees him to be of some use to and for others.  Being forgiven, without service for the sake of others, changes nothing.  Addicts know this.  They are paralyzed in their addiction.  Bad behavior continues.  In the twelve steps they experience forgiveness.  But they won’t escape the addictive powerlessness until they begin to be of service to others.  Don’t just tell people you are sorry.  Clean up your mess.