Yet I know there are some emotions that can makes us feel like we are in a prison. Daily we wake up with thoughts of those who have hurt us. Through out our day that memory can crop up again and again.
Unforgiveness is one of those emotions. . I understand this prison, I have been in it before. I have been a slave to someone who has hurt me deeply. What they did would runs over and over in my mind. So much so I would get frustrated easily because I could not think clearly. It ate at my feeling till all that was left was hate and I wished I never had to see them again. So, I can tell you for sure without Christ love for me I would still be in that prison.
Someone said to me several weeks ago, forgiving someone would be easier if they could just forget what they did. I had to agree, which means, we have to replace what they did with what Christ did for us. God did not ask us to forget, He ask us to forgive. (copied from Bill (cycleguy post). ).
Unforgiveness is one of those emotions. . I understand this prison, I have been in it before. I have been a slave to someone who has hurt me deeply. What they did would runs over and over in my mind. So much so I would get frustrated easily because I could not think clearly. It ate at my feeling till all that was left was hate and I wished I never had to see them again. So, I can tell you for sure without Christ love for me I would still be in that prison.
Someone said to me several weeks ago, forgiving someone would be easier if they could just forget what they did. I had to agree, which means, we have to replace what they did with what Christ did for us. God did not ask us to forget, He ask us to forgive. (copied from Bill (cycleguy post). ).
He has to become the focus of our life, the first thing we think about when we wake up and the last thing we think about before we sleep. This is worth repeating, HE HAS TO BECOME THE FOCUS OF OUR LIFE. When He is our life all else becomes fainter, not forgotten but it becomes a scar not a wound. We can touch the scar, show it to others, talk about it, praise the Lord for the scar. As with all scars we can remember how we got it but it does not hurt anymore. At that moment you are no longer a slave, no long in prison. Free at last, free at last.
“Whenever there’s an injury to a relationship, a hurt, a broken heart, or even a broken thing, and you are willing to forgive, you are saying, “I got this. I’m going to pick up the bill for this.” This is, of course, precisely what God has done for us.”
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“Whenever there’s an injury to a relationship, a hurt, a broken heart, or even a broken thing, and you are willing to forgive, you are saying, “I got this. I’m going to pick up the bill for this.” This is, of course, precisely what God has done for us.”
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Oh forgiveness is such a huge ball and chain, Betty. Thank you for putting this subject on the table today. He is able to help us extend what seems to be impossible. Thank You, Lord, for showing us how to do this lavishly.
ReplyDeleteThere is someone I forgive almost daily, someone who hurt me deeply. I understand that forgive 70 times 70, thankful God put that in His word. Blessing Linda
DeleteWhen we fail to forgive others, we are in a prison of our own making, Betty. Yes, we all need to forgive as Jesus has forgiven us.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
You are gifted with words Martha. Thank you for being my blog friend.
DeleteSo true, Betty! Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die - not sure who coined that phrase, but it is a good one. Forgiving someone is such a liberating thing to do. It is worth it to just let it go. I hope you are doing well. It was so edifying to visit with you today, sweet friend.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I am doing well. It took a while and a few proceedures to get my bladder and kidney to function better. I had a cat scan recently which revealed no more blockage in that area. But it did show something in my lower color so on the 18 having a test to check it out. The doctor did seems to think it was anything serious, maybe inflamation. I told him I was not having anymore test, they always find something. But at 75 the organs are as old as the outside of my body covered in wrinkles and sagging skin.
ReplyDeleteGod has given me more grace in the area of forgiveness. Thankful for His showing us how to forgive, no matter how many times it takes, just keep it up, then one day it will be gone. Blessing.
Such wise words, I am so thankful God has forgiven me for wrongs I have done and I know He wants me to extend that forgiveness to others. It is so hard sometimes but so healing and freeing.
ReplyDeleteI would like to thing that sometimes during the process of forgiving there is the result of forgetting what the person has done.
ReplyDeleteWell, I know God's forgets our sins but I don't think we do. The mind is tainted just as our body is and it all is in the decaying mold from the minutes we are born. Thats why sometime it's almost every day I have to forgive a certain someone who has hurt me deeply. I am grateful for ability to forgive and not forget because it helps me trust Him for all things. What ever we remember, the pain of it turns into a scar and you can touch it, talk about it and it does not hurt. I burned my hand years ago. It left a deep scar on my hand since it was third degree. I can touch it and it does not hurt, tell the story of how it happened and there is no pain. But at the time it hurt like crazy and trust me when I say I will never do what I did that day to get my hand burned. So remembering is useful at times. It the same when people hurt us. I ask God to help me myself as big of sinner as them, to show me with His help I can forgive. I hear some say, I will take pain of unforgiveness to the grave with me. I think that is the saddest words. I want to drop all earthly things the minutes I die and I think we will but there is such a thing as our rewards we will gather in heaven and I want a lot of them so I can lay them at Jesus feet for He deserves all I have. Let those memories be the lesson that gives you wisdom and builts your faith. Let it go as many times as it comes up. Forgiveness is a process but possible because He forgave us and continues to.
DeleteA good post, Betty. I like your words about being able to look at an emotional scar and not hurt over it. I think remembering is human, and forgetting unrealistic (and often not desired, as you point out). Forgiving becomes so much easier when I consider what Jesus suffered in my behalf, and that from the cross He asked His Heavenly Father to forgive those who put Him there (which includes me when I consider that he died for my sin, too). How can I think that my wounds are deeper than His?
ReplyDelete