How do I deal with hurt? What’s my reaction when someone (even when/if I think God’s hurt me, I hold something against Him, I’m still blaming Him for something) hurts me? What about forgiving myself?
The devil works to plant sin, like unforgiveness, in my life. His plan isn’t only to to use unforgiveness to make me miserable, but to destroy me. And he wants to use my unforgiveness to infect as many others as I can with it.
In His mercy, God steps into my life to show me how to walk in forgiveness. As I learn the blessing in forgiveness, I’ll feel so much better and want to let others know they too can be freed from the terrible weight of unforgiveness.
Pursue peace with all men, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Be careful that no one falls short of the grace of God, so that no root of bitterness will spring up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrew 12:14-15
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Psalm 32:5
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:14
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
Micah 7:18
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
Psalm 86:5
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Acts 3:19
Isn’t God’s mercy incredible? It just rejuvenates us like nothing else can.
Wow, my wife and I listened to some teachings on the importance of forgiveness over the weekend. I have to admit, before listening to the videos, we didn’t think we had any issues with forgiveness – maybe some lingering religious pride there? =)
As soon as the forgiveness lessons began, the precious Holy Spirit began speaking to our hearts about some things. We had to stop the videos several times and let Jesus speak to our hearts. God’s truth shared in these videos was SO soothing to our hearts, minds and spirits.
I even identified some unforgiveness I had towards God. It was so healing to deal with that.
As we sat listening to the teacher who taught how important it is to forgive others and then to bless them as a lifestyle, God just loved us into more and more forgiveness. It was so freeing. Made us feel so much more lite in our spirits like taking a spiritual bath in God’s love.
Funny how you don’t even realize you’re still carrying around weighty baggage like unforgiveness. God is SO GOOD, friends. He does everything He can to show us how to let go of the heaviness our sins can bear on us. His ongoing faithfulness just keeps surprising us. It’s so incredibly wonderful how He keeps showing us how to become more and more free to walk in His amazing love.
…that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. =)
Those times of refreshing are so good…Keep helping us become more free with Your soothing truths, Lord.
God bless,
Mark