There are opportunities everyday to teach and learn. Teachable moments are ever present to relay the truth of the Bible.
This morning at the orphanage one of the boys Jorge was playing with his Play-Doh with his younger brother Miguel. I took Jorge aside to homework and he let Miguel borrow the play-doh. Miguel lost the play-doh and Jorge got mad at his younger brother. Unfortunately stealing is very common at the orphanage. So I took Miguel and we started looking for the missing play-doh and were unable to find it. I told Miguel that he needed to talk to Jorge and tell him what happened. So Miguel talks to him and tries to offer his favorite light-up remote control Lightening McQueen car to make up for what happened, but Jorge doesn't accept.
Miguel comes back downstairs frustrated that Jorge didn't accept his gift. And I ask him if he had asked for forgiveness and apologized for losing Jorge's play-doh. Miguel says no. I explain to him that he cannot earn nor win Jorge's forgiveness. That like God's forgiveness offered to us, we cannot earn it but it, but it is freely given to us through Jesus's sacrifice. Miguel agrees and returns upstairs to ask for forgiveness. After a couple minutes he returns crying saying that Jorge did not forgive him.
After wiping his tears away, I go upstairs with Miguel and sit down with the two of them. We discuss what had happened. I explain that it is hard to forgive somebody who has hurt us. But that forgiveness does not mean that we agree with what was done to us nor that we are "happy" and "okay". I shared with him how about a year ago somebody had stolen some valuable things from my house and later asked me for forgiveness. Was I happy that he had stolen from me? No. I was sad and felt betrayed. Did he deserve my forgiveness? No. But I needed to forgive him because God forgives me and we are supposed to forgive others as God has forgiven us. I explained to Jorge that it is not easy, but we need to humble ourselves and reflect God's heart and forgive as He forgives.
Jorge said "no" and went downstairs. Miguel, the little 6 year old whose smile shines brighter than any kid I know, got down on his knees and started bawling. I hugged him and reassured him that he had done all he could do. He had humbled himself and asked for forgiveness. God had already forgiven him. He replied, "I know, but Jorge cares more about his play-doh than he does me. He loves his play-doh more than he loves me his own brother."
Wow. Those are some deep thoughts for a 6 year old kid. I shared with him that sometimes our pride gets in the way and we think only of ourselves and that it makes it hard to forgive people. We talked about how Miguel was demonstrating a humble heart in asking forgiveness. And that unfortunately something is wrong in Jorge's heart in not wanting to forgive. It all has to do with the heart. Our thoughts, actions and words are a reflection of our heart. We prayed for Jorge and that God would change his heart. And I gave Miguel a big hug and he went off to school.
There are days like this that are truly bittersweet.
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