Forgiveness

This weekend I asked for forgiveness from someone who I had held a grudge against for 7 years. It literally was 7 years to be exact. On April 20th, 2004 I had a huge falling out with one of my best friends. I was so hurt by something she had done to me that I retaliated by saying many horrible things against her and wished bad things to happen to her. The worst part, was that I continued to bash her throughout these 7 years to people who didn’t even know her. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t have a fleeting glimpse of her face cross my mind. I had so much hate for her, I felt like I could barely contain my anger. I had asked God for forgiveness many times, but that pang of guilt was still too much for me to accept full forgiveness. 

This weekend we lost a mutual friend to brain cancer. His funeral was the reason we ran into each other. This was such a bittersweet moment; the loss of a good friend to reuniting and mending another. I had asked her to forgive me, and told her how sorry I was for everything. I know she felt the same way. I was so happy at that moment, that I don’t remember much of our conversation. I wake up now every morning feeling lighter and closer to God. I fixed a broken part of my soul by simply forgiving her. I urge all of you women out there to do the same if you are going through a similar situation. It isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but man does it feel good. Forgive. 

-Becky B
_____________________________________________________________________

It is so important to forgive others in order for us to grow spiritually. When we choose not to forgive, we are trusting in our own efforts to ‘get even’ instead of allowing God to work out our issues of fairness. As in Becky’s case, she was not rewarded for her efforts of retaliation but instead the fruit of her unforgiveness resulted in a harvest full of anger, bitterness, and pride. However, when we choose to forgive something amazing happens. I picture moments like these resembling a infinite luminous rainbow expanding from one end of the sky to the other after a wild earsplitting storm. Your soul is restored at peace, you mind is sound, and your heart is open to give and receive love. I get goose-bumps thinking about Becky and her ‘rival’ pardoning one another from their past hurts. I have no doubt in my mind that the Lord and his fleet of angels were rejoicing over them in that moment. Praise God.
 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins Mark” 11:25                                      

One of the reasons why you may not have a breakthrough in something you have been praying for may be because you have un-forgiveness in your heart. Before you can start praying for God to bless you, you might want to take a look at where you might be storing past hurts in your heart and like Becky did, humble yourself and forgive the person(s) who hurt you.

 
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” - Colossians 3:13

The reason why forgiveness is so important to God is because He has forgiven you for  the sins you have done. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus, to die on the cross for us so that we can be forgiven. So how can God forgive us for our sins if we choose not to forgive other people for their transgressions against us? Forgiveness is not a suggestion from God, it is a command. I believe that we need to start bearing with one another and be quick to forgive. We need to trust that God is a better justice maker than we are, and put all matters into His hands instead of keeping the weight of un-forgiveness chained to ourselves.

As a result of Becky’s blog today I pray that you are inspired to develop the habit of being quick to forgive others. I encourage you to search your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal one person in whom you need to humble yourself before and ask for forgiveness. I also encourage you to forgive someone today who has hurt you in the past. God Bless