Happy Monday! I hope you had an awesome weekend and are welcoming the new week with joy. His mercies are new each morning. Happy Cinco de Mayo as well. There are some awesome holidays coming up to celebrate. Mother’s Day and Memorial Day come up the middle and end of May. Any special plans? I see barbecue all around me.
The definition of forgiveness is to cease to feel resentment toward someone. To feel is to be emotionally affected by. I address forgiveness and want to speak on how challenging it can be when someone holds on to the hurt and pain of the offense.
Triggers are emotional responses to past hurts. How do you let go? Release the emotions? Holding on to the emotions generated by past hurt causes more pain each time a trigger occurs. When we let go of the hurts, we open ourselves to a richer and fuller life. Life is not pain free. As we experience those hurts, we must be willing to forgive. Forgetting is not much of an option since our memory keeps us from repeating harmful experiences.
It is not easy to let go and forgive. There is an underlying thought that if we forgive someone, they get away with the offense. However, I stand on God’s word. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19). This has helped me let go of a lot of emotion and not be held in bondage by how I feel. I feel it in the moment, reconcile it within myself, and let it go. I free myself from the power of someone holding me hostage.
I believe the challenge of forgiveness is that we want a person to receive payment immediately for their wrongdoing. However, the timing is not ours. It belongs to the Lord. It’s not the most pleasant feeling when you think someone got away with hurting you. God’s word says though that we must forgive others. “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
Living the abundant life requires us to step out of our comfort zone and live like Christ. When we are determined to live our way and are resistant to living God’s way, we have much more heartache and pain. Listen, God sees it all. No one is getting away with anything no matter how long it’s been. We have to answer for it all.
Be encouraged and be blessed.
One response to “Forgiveness”
Amen. Indeed the desire for retribution is often what keeps us from forgiving. I have been down that road where I the person who had hurt me was getting away with it besides paying evil for good. But leaving it to God by faith helped both to forgive and heal.
Thank you for sharing.