Forgiveness

As I was praying over our post this week and asking God what He wanted me to write about, the word "forgiveness" kept coming up. I've been in multiple situations the past few weeks where I had to forgive and let go of people and/or situations that I have been holding on to. For me, forgiving is "easy"; it's the "letting go" that is hard. Hence, our picture for this post. I am quick to forgive, but slow to forget. So, did I really forgive if I didn't let it go? Are they one in the same or are they parallels to each other? I think society has taught us to have this mentality of "forgive but don't let go." Paul told the Ephesians,

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭31-32

As Christians, we are called to love one another. We cannot love others if we are holding on to past grievances and harboring hard feelings towards others. We mus let it go. Why are you holding in to the hurt, anger, bitterness, and pain? What good is it doing you?

I recently went through a tough situation with an extended family member who passed away. This family member has had a problem with me since day 1. She held hard feelings towards me for things out of my control and she would make them known. I held a lot of resentment towards her because I couldn't understand why she felt such hard feelings towards me. I still don't. We received the phone call that she was very sick and if we wanted to see her, we had to go now. All I could think was, "this woman is going to die disliking me." It hurt. I received a phone call as I was working through these hard feelings and found out that while she was still cohesive, she told a family member she regretted things getting off on the wrong foot with us and that she loved me. My heart broke knowing she and I would never be able to talk it out and move forward. My biggest regret is not letting the hard feelings I had towards her go and calling her to tell her I forgive her. By the time I made this conscious decision to forgive and let go, it was too late. I say all of this to say, don't be like me. Don't wait until it's too late. This woman played an important role in a very special person's life whom I love more than anything in the world and I let hard feelings interfere with our relationship.

Who are you harboring hard feelings towards and need to forgive? I pray that you will choose to forgive and let go for your own sake if not for anyone else's. You are only hurting yourself my friend. Forgive them as God has forgiven you because I am sure there are things in your life that you need/needed forgiveness for and God graciously did. It is so freeing to live a life with forgiveness in your heart instead of spite, anger, and bitterness. And if they hurt you again? Forgive them again and move on. I love Jesus' response to Peter in Mark 18: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭

Forgive so that you may be forgiven. Forgive so that you can live in peace. Forgive so that joy can take over the bitterness. Forgive so that you can open up to better and brighter things. I'm praying for you today. I'm praying that you start this week off by seeking to forgive whatever it is you're holding on to. I'm praying you find renewed peace and joy in your life this week. I love you all and thank you for supporting me.