Forgiveness - Love_Goodmorning

Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace…

Everybody has been wronged at some point in their lives and we’ve also wronged someone else willingly, or unwillingly. The question is how do you move forward after the matter? I think forgiveness is way easier said than done literally because it takes some other steps in order to forgive.

What are some things that we can do initially to enable ourselves to be able to forgive in the first place? Forgiveness is just the end result and may even be a continuum depending on our personalities. I believe there is:

Perspective

Change it.

Understand that people are not perfect and that we are all in a position to wrong someone else and fall short of the glory of God because we are not perfect beings. We cannot put one another on a pedestal because we will be guaranteed a letdown. We have to choose to forgive, no matter how hard. The saying goes that,

“Not forgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” – Unknown

Make the decision to let go and move life forward, not letting the past keep you in a choke hold.

I also heard Pastor John Siebling, @The Life Church, say,

“Yesterday has gone, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift from God”.

So, what do we do with the present (gift) that we have right now? Hopefully, letting the past go in a way that it doesn’t keep affecting our day to day lives.

Heart

Transform it.

I believe that if it’s hard to complete #1, then maybe we have a heart issue. We have to make sure our heart is right, being transformed by the renewing of your mind (perspective). Out of the heart flows the issues of life. We may need to ask God to uproot some things from our own hearts to be able to see way past the issue at hand. Remember the Lord forgave us, so who are we not to forgive others.

Action

Take it.

Be willing to go through whatever it takes to get to the forgiving part. We work to change our perspective because we’re looking forward to so much more in life than to hold on to grudges (deserved or in ignorance). The only person usually holding us back in life is us. Practice patience, wisdom, discernment, and kindness. Learn to love, trust, and have faith again. We must renew our minds to think on those things that are ahead and not behind us and then we forgive them for the situation even though we don’t forget because the mind will not let us forget. So when

we become triggered we remember what we’ve learned in this post and, most of all, God’s Word. Smile.

Check out some scriptures below!

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

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. – Colossians 3:13

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins. – Matthew 6:14-15

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 4:31

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. – Psalms 51:10

Sincerely,