Unwrapping Peace by Sanford Beckett

Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce,

for the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:11 (Good News Translation)

What approach do you take to unwrap a Christmas present? Are you like one in our family who slowly and carefully removes the tape so the paper is not torn and then, when finished, carefully folds the paper so it can be used another time? Are you like our youngest grandson whose approach is—rip, rip, get this paper out of my way? Whatever your approach, unwrapping involves action.

Paul’s prayer in Philippians is that we will be filled with good qualities that only Jesus Christ can produce. One such quality is forgiveness.

This summer, my daughter gave me a book called “Mr. President, The Class is Yours” by Christi Harlan. The book contains fourteen of the seventeen Sunday School lessons Jimmy Carter taught at First Baptist Church, Washington, D.C. A December 1978 lesson was “Forgiveness: A Two Way Street.” Mr. Carter challenged those in attendance to contact two people that week: someone they needed to forgive and someone from whom they needed to ask forgiveness. He said he would do the same.

I decided that if the president can do this, so can I. I wrote someone in the church who hadn’t spoken to us in the past two years to ask for forgiveness. Then, the hard one. For more than twenty years, I harbored anger and resentment toward a family member who committed a felony against my father. It wasn’t easy to do, but I knew it was the right thing to do. When I told my daughter I forgave the person, she said, “Do you feel a burden has been lifted?” I replied, “It is a peace I haven’t had for years.” It will probably be my best Christmas gift this year.

How about you? What peace do you need to unwrap this Advent? If the former President and l can do it, so can you. Well ...

SANFORD BECKETT

Harlan, Christi, “Mr. President, The Class is Yours: Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Lessons in Washington, D.C.”

Christi Harlan Media LLC, 2024.