Fearless to Forgive
Has this scenario ever happened to you: you receive a text from someone and you reply? Minutes and Minutes go by five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and you’re wondering why you haven’t heard back from the person, why they could be taking so long to answer your reply. You go into your text messages, you look down and you realize you never even sent the reply text to the person. You were the one that was holding up the communication, and the flow of the conversation the whole time. This has happened to the best of us. This is exactly what it’s like when we struggle with unforgiveness. We feel that we deserve our anger and that we are entitled to our feelings when we’ve been hurt and betrayed. We think that the ownness is on the other person to make themselves worthy of our forgiveness (assuming that we’re even interested in forgiving). But we are the ones holding up the process of healing and moving on. Not the other party. Let’s look at what God says about Forgiveness. Colossians 3:13 says to make allowances for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. The more we can relate to others and see ourselves in the same light that God sees us, the easier it becomes to give others the grace that he extends to us daily. God is described in scripture as “long suffering” this means that we cannot exhaust him no matter how hard we try. We are automatically given a new supply of grace, mercy and forgiveness due to the perfect work that God sent Jesus to complete. Therefore, God commands us to forgive others just as he forgives us. What are the effects of refusing to forgive? You keep yourself in a helpless victimized state. Prolonged unforgiveness can also cause stress, tension and even physical ailments. Prolonged unforgiveness turns into bitterness. Let’s see what God says about this In Ephesians 4:31-32. Apostle Paul say to Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. We are to be imitators of God and Christ, and therefore in our obedience to the requirement to forgive we are modeling exactly what God did and continues to do for us. Forgiving someone doesn’t let them off the hook or give them a free pass to behave poorly. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you must be reconciled in your relationship or friendship. Forgiveness is, however, freeing. Once you make the decision to forgive you will no longer be bound to the bad memories, past pains, offensive words, or traumatic times. Things roll off your back much easier, and you enjoy a sense of deep peace and joy. Forgives takes strength, maturity and power. It requires you to trust in God more than you trust in your emotions. Most importantly you will be in obedience to God, and you will bring his name glory in your treatment of others.
AFFIRM IT:
I am forgiving
I forgive quickly, and I don’t give resentment and bitterness the chance to take root in me
I am tender hearted
I love and treat others with the same mercy that God treats me
I am patient, quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
SCRIPTURES: Colossians 3:13 Ephesians 4:26 Ephesians 4:31-32 James: 1:19-20
