forgiveness

Life is hard.

People are hurtful.

We are human.

Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV) Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (22) Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

It's hard to forgive. When you have been wounded so deeply by a spouse, a friend, a family member...you feel as though you could never forget what they have done. You could never move past the offence. It's so painful. Too difficult. You might even think you owe it to yourself to hold on to the hurt. To nurse it. That way you are in control, right? "They don't deserve it anyway. They have made zero attempt to apologize. Forgive them?  Don't you know what they did to me?"

How shallow and sad our little human minds are sometimes.We can twist things to mold perfectly to our current needs. But at the end of the day, when you still have not forgiven your offender, do you truly feel better? Can you breathe with ease and peace?

Forgiveness is not a choice. It's a requirement.

We forgive because we are forgiven

When we choose unforgiveness, we are planting seeds of bitterness in our soul. The more we nuture and grow those seeds, they begin to sprout out in our lives. In our speech. In our character. This aint pretty, people. And the fact is, your bitterness belongs only to you. Your offender does not care that your bitter. It only effects you (plus it makes you ugly).

But when we choose forgiveness, we release the offender, and the offense. As my girl, Oprah says, "You let go of the hope that the past can be changed." You are free from the cold chains around your ankles. You can live you life in peace, and turn your wounds into wisdom.

"A man cannot forgive up to four hundred and ninety times without forgiveness becoming a part of the habit structure of his being. Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude." 
 -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Choose today to forgive, friends. Life is too short to stay angry.

Happy hump day
Love,
K