Reposting: Ive been thinking about the topic of forgiveness after a recent conversation I had. To forgive is one of the hardest things well ever have to do in our lives. It is a requirement as a Christian to forgive those who have hurt and wronged us. The bible places great emphasis on forgiveness and God expects us to forgive others as we have also been forgiven. There is great emphasis on forgiving in secular society as well. Forgiveness is crucial if we want to live happy and healthy lives but if it were easy there wouldnt be such an emphasis on it and millions of how-to books and scripture after scripture written on how to forgive. Its a process that we go through, especially after experiencing traumatic events in our lives inflicted upon us by others. Healing is a process, and I believe that healing and forgiveness go hand in hand. In the bible we are told to forgive a person who has wronged us not seven times but seventy-seven times, because one time is usually not enough. Matthew 18:21-22 says Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Jesus was basically saying that forgiveness is a process and that its not easy. The bottom line is that we need to keep forgiving the people in our lives who have hurt us...the living and the dead. It wont be an instantaneous event though. We need to work on our issues and take it to God. He knows our struggle and Hes not mad at us. Its the exact opposite! He loves us and has mercy on us every day. His grace covers a multitude of sins. So while were in the process of forgiving others we need to allow ourselves that time of healing and show grace and mercy to ourselves as well. To forgive literally means to untie...to let go of the anger and forget the wrongs and get on with living and untie ourselves from the past. The way I have been able to forgive the evil that has been done to me is to say God here is my issue, You take it and I trust You to take care of it...either now or later, and just push it out of my mind and not think about it anymore. And when I stumble I repeat the process. There are a lot of things that I have forgotten and some I havent, but I know that since Im partnered up with God on it I will be able to come to that point of total forgiveness. In the meantime I live my life and work on being the best me that I can. I have learned that forgiving and being patient with myself is the most important key in this process and with Gods help I will be successful and live a happy, heathy life
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 20:52:09 +0000
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