Incarceration

Miriam Webster’s dictionary defines incarceration as follows: confinement in a jail or prison: the act of imprisoning someone or the state of being imprisoned. It’s another one of those words that have stuck in my mind, and the only way to free myself of it is to write about it. Just part of my being a writer, I suppose.

I can think of three ways of being incarcerated. One is described above, confinement in a jail or prison facing the consequences of what we have done.

Our sins imprison us. We possess a key to the second one. We need to humble ourselves before Christ and ask forgiveness. God will forgive us if we only ask and turn away from our sinful ways.

The third way is to hold fast to our anger. Hold a grudge against someone for something they’ve done, or we perceive them to have done. We hold the key to freedom on that one too. We must forgive them for what they have done. From the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We don’t have to tell them we forgive them verbally unless we choose to, only forgive them.

Lord, we ask that you bless us and show us the way to forgiveness of our sins, and guide us to forgiveness of those who have wronged us. Bring peace to our hearts. Amen!