Forgiveness
Hi friends! It’s been a long time since I have written. There are seasons for everything and I have been in a season of transition and growth. I have tried not to fight seasons when things aren’t how I think they should be, but rather lean into the Lord for strength and discernment. During my time away from writing, I have had thoughts that my writing isn’t good enough, that it doesn’t matter if I write because who really reads it anyway. Then recently, I began to have this quiet prompting to jump back in. As I began to pray about this, someone that I don’t see often commented that she missed my blogs. So, rather than get my feet wet, I might as well cannonball back into my writing, trusting this is what the Lord wants me to do and what better way to start than with the topic of forgiveness.
What do you think of when you hear that word? Many things came to my mind when I started to think about this word. Conflict, dread, betrayal, tears, shame…I could go on. I initially thought of my own feelings and people who have hurt me. Then my mind drifted to people I have hurt and lastly to things I need to forgive myself for. We all have areas of our life where we need to extend forgiveness. So why is it sometimes so hard to do? To forgive we must be able to look at and process an area in our lives where something unfavorable occurred. This can be so hard to do and often is a big hit to our ego.
I always geek out learning about the origin of words. The word forgive comes from the Latin word “perdonare,” meaning “to give completely without reservation.” Say what…Completely? Yes, friends completely AND without reservation. This is not a natural tendency and makes me squirm in my shoes. Our flesh wants nothing more than to prove to others we are right. So why is it such an important thing for us to learn how to do? In order to learn to forgive is to grow in becoming more like Christ. Forgiveness requires obedience, patience, mercy, confession, courage, faith, and strength.
In Ephesians 4:32, Paul tells us to “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Friends, we need to forgive because we are forgiven. Forgiveness brings healing and freedom. It allows us to put aside our differences and move on. To be able to let go of past hurts and walk in freedom is what The Lord wants for our lives. To hang on to hurt is crippling and does not allow us to be effective in all we do.
I want to challenge us all as the holidays approach to remember what Jesus did for us. He was perfect, blameless, and without sin. He did EVERYRTHING right, yet he took ALL our sins so that we could be forgiven in the eyes of the Lord. I want each of you to hear something; whatever grudge or hatred you are holding onto, let it go. If you’re holding certain expectations of yourself, lay them down at the cross. Let God begin to restore and mend the wounds in your heart.