Forgiving Others

Learning to forgive those who hurt or offend us is one of the greatest abilities we can ever achieve. And apart from the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and lives, we cannot do this on our own. Today, let us reflect on those who have hurt us and we have failed to forgive and then meditate on these verses and quotes. May we each be challenged to forgive the person who has hurt us the most deeply.

Matthew 6: 14-15
“If you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Unforgiveness can drag us down and figuratively bury us. Often the times the person we need to forgive, goes on living with not even a portion of the heartache and pain that we carry in our unforgiveness. Most importantly, unforgiveness erects a looming barricade between us and our Father. If we think we cannot forgive someone because the hurts they have inflicted are much too painful, let us recall the tragic death our Savior died on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Our hurts pale in comparison, don’t they?

I do not know the author of this quote, but it is a powerful quote for us to consider.
“Every person should have a special cemetery lot in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was YOU.”

Again, we are urged to forgive because in doing so, we are freed in a way that only true forgiveness can generate. Note in this quote that we are to bury – and not dig up – those faults in need of forgiveness. Too often, we will say in words that we forgive someone, but we will cling to the baggage and hurt which confirms that true forgiveness has not occurred.

“Hate is a prolonged form of suicide.” –Douglas V. Steere

Such truth composes this quote. Hate and unforgivness gnaw away at our spirits and souls. Thought by thought, memory by memory, and heartache by heartache……as long as we do not forgive those who offend us, the erosion of our lives slowly transpires. And before we realize how critical the unforgiveness in our lives has become, our hopes and dreams are eradicated by our own unforgiveness.

As Christians, God has given us the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 6:18). What does this reconciliation require of each of us …… understanding, resolution, compromise, reunion, ceasefire, bringing together, appeasement……may we each commit our lives and hearts and minds to forgiveness and reconciliation in each relationship that challenges us.