Monday, April 11, 2011

Letting Go Of Hurt

Why does God make such an issue of forgiveness?
Every one of us has been hurt deeply by someone else.
The command to forgive is so difficult because sometimes we don't want to forgive. We want to strike back. We want justice. We want the other person to know the pain they inflicted.
When you received His love He promised He would "remember the past no longer". You have been forgiven. When we forgive others we show that His Spirit is at work within us. When we forgive we demonstrate that we have not forgotten where He found us.
I once read - One of the best ways of showing someone the wrong they have done is to contrast their actions with grace. Think about that and read it again. Wow...
You may hurt a person by not forgiving them and feel some satisfying sense of getting even, but almost without exception, the hurt you do to yourself may be even greater.
One of the greatest barriers to effective prayer and spiritual vitality is an unforgiving heart.
True Forgiveness is an act of grace empowered by God.
With one of the biggest hurts of my life I knew I needed to forgive, but I just couldnt, not without God. I prayed and prayed but the pain was so deep, so real. I wanted to let it go. I made a list, I cried and wrote down the things that I needed God to take away from me, the things in my heart that didnt belong. When I was done I went outside and pictured Jesus sitting on His throne and me putting my list at His feet, giving Him my pain, my problems, my fears, my heartache. Then I light my list on fire and it disappeared.
I am still learning about forgiveness and have moments that I need to remind myself the extent of God’s forgiveness.
Matthew 18:21-35

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Crystal!!! This was very good for me to read today!!! <3

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