Hello, hello, hello! Happy Tuesday. I pray your day is going well and that there is joy in your heart today! Thank you all so much for the prayers for my sweet husband yesterday, his fever broke and although he is still feeling poorly, he is back at work and is going to try to make a full day of it!
Today I would like to broach the subject of forgiveness...we have all heard "forgive and forget" but really do we honor that, should we "forgive and forget?" I have always felt that I can forgive, in fact people say I am one of the most forgiving people on the face of the earth, but "forgetting" comes a bit harder for me. I think things happen to us so that we can learn, we can grow, and we can progress. When a person hurts you it is the right choice to forgive them, we have no way of knowing what was going on in their minds at the point of hurt. People get hurt by words more than any other hurt there is....words are just that WORDS...remember the little song we sang as children? "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me..." I never really could grasp this...words have done more damage to me in my lifetime than sticks and stones have ever done! Well back to the point I am trying to make...I don't really agree with the "forgive and forget" I wholeheartedly believe in forgiveness...when someone hurts me, I mentally envision Christ on the cross...when he was walking to the hill to be hung, every hurtful act, both mentally and physically, that you can imagine was done to him...being spit on to me would be worse than being stoned! When Christ hung from the cross, he could see those who had loved him, those who wept at seeing him there, those who mocked him, those who had shouted vile words, those who had kicked him, hit him, pushed and shoved him....he did not pick and choose for who he was dying...he died for all mankind, he died for you and for me! This to me is the ultimate in "forgiveness" imagine yourself hanging there, could you forgive the very ones who had just caused you so much pain? The words that he murmured as he hung there..."Father forgive them for they know not what they do" I always forgive, I think this first and formost and I really, truly, honestly forgive...it might take me a few moments to "filter, factor, and file" but I do forgive...but forget...I have a hard time there as I feel that these are lessons that I must learn from. If a person steals from me, I will forgive them but I will not give them free range in my home ever again! If a person lies to me, I will forgive but their credibility will be forever questioned. If a person causes me physical harm, I do forgive them, but I will not stick my face close to theirs so that they can hit me again. In ending, forgiveness is a gift to yourself, when you forgive those who have hurt you, you are actually freeing up space in your own heart for more love. I personally do not like to hold on to anger because eventually it will make me a bitter, angry person in which I know God does not enjoy....IF you are holding anger in your heart, why not let it go today, forgive the presenter of the pain and begin to heal from the inside...Don't let anyone steal your joy and don't waste time in hanging on to things that are not beneficial to you....
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