Forgiveness

Bondage.  Anger.  Bitterness.  Turmoil.  Misery.  Grief.  Sadness. Confusion.

These are all things you will most definitely experience when you choose to live in unforgiveness.  Forgiveness is not an emotion that will one day just come over you.  Forgiveness is a conscious decision.  You don’t even have to totally understand why you are making the decision.  It’s just so very important that you make the decision to forgive.  Make the decision right now.  Say these words out loud:

I choose to forgive [insert name here] for what they did to me. 

Tomorrow, say these same words.  The day after that, repeat again. And do so until the day comes that you don’t remember to do it.  That will be the day you’ll realize that God worked out all the unforgiveness in your heart.

Forgiveness is not about the person who wronged you.

Forgiveness is about your heart being right with God.

The longer you go without forgiving, the more hardened your heart becomes.  And a sure way to keep unforgiveness in your heart is to replay the situation over and over again in your head.  To talk about it all the time.  To dwell upon it.  And it’s so sad because this does not hurt the person who wronged you.  This hurts you.  This cheats you of precious time with your family.  Precious time with God.  Precious time.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

God forgave each of us even though we certainly did not deserve it.  He chose to forgive us through His Son Christ Jesus.

It was a choice God made for you and for me.

How can we not make that same choice for our brother or sister?  How can we not make that same choice for ourselves?

Making the choice to forgive doesn’t mean that you need to welcome that person into your home and into your life with open arms.  But it does mean that when you see that person, you no longer have any negative feelings toward them.  Jesus did not call us to make judgment against others.  That is His job.  He called us to love one another just as He loved us.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11

I know about forgiveness and unforgiveness because I harbored unforgiveness in my heart for a long time.  I chose to relive past hurts and rejections over and over to justify my unforgiveness.  Sadly, it only hurt me on a deeper level.  It robbed me of the ability to truly be one with my Savior.  The day I chose to forgive and move on was the day the healing began.  We cannot wait on it to happen on its own.

Forgiveness will never happen on its own.

We are the catalyst to kickstart the process.

God is there waiting to do the healing as soon as we hand it over to Him.

Here is a prayer for you to pray today if you want to let go of unforgiveness in your heart:

Dear God,
I choose to forgive.  I choose love over bitterness and sadness.  Your Son Jesus Christ died for all of us, including this person who treated me unfairly.  You love this person as much as You love me.  I choose to love this person.  

Please start the healing process in my heart.  Every time I start to relive the past hurt and betrayal, please convict me immediately to stop and lay it down at Your feet. Immediately tell me to stop! I am unable to forgive in my own strength but with Your strength, forgiveness is possible.

Thank You for being my Guide today, tomorrow, and forever.
In Jesus Christ’s name I pray.
Amen.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva