Forgiveness

Forgiving may be one of the most difficult tasks for Christians to do at times because when someone has wronged us our first instinct is not necessarily to forgive. However, forgiveness is sometimes the last thing on my mind because the hurt runs so deep that my anger, sadness, and or frustration is larger than the want to forgive. But, God calls us to forgive one another just as He forgives us, and when I am reminded of that my mind shifts because I realize that if God thinks I am worthy of continual forgiveness for my wrongdoings, then so is everyone else. 

Personally I think the reason forgiveness is so difficult is because the hurt that we feel is fresh, and oftentimes it’s continuous because we cannot forget about it. But, if we want to heal from the pain, the first step is forgiveness. Forgiveness can be a beautiful thing because it’s freeing. By forgiving those who have wronged you, you are freeing yourself from anger and pain. Is it easy to see forgiveness that way? No, it’s not. Simply because the devil is constantly trying to pull us from things that are good, and the devil wants us to suffer. So, he causes us to relive our pain by causing us to keep thinking about it which pushes us farther away from forgiveness.

However, I encourage you to not allow your thoughts to wander and therefore cause yourself to follow a path of unforgiveness. We are all sinners who aren’t worthy of the grace and mercy God repeatedly bestows upon us, but still he forgives us for our transgressions and that’s what we should do for others. There is no doubt that forgiveness can be tough, but we have to trust that God is handling the person that we are trying to forgive. It’s not our job for them to receive the “right punishment” for their actions against us. Rather, it’s God’s job to instill justice on the situation and we have to trust that He is doing that. 

Finally, the biggest takeaway I want you to receive from this is that forgiveness is a journey. And I’m not saying that you have to forgive someone the second that they sin against you, but in order to let go of the pain that is causing you to be in a constant state of hurt we have to forgive. However long it takes for us to get there depends on the individual because it’s our decision to forgive and it’s our decision to heal, but we have to be willing to forgive others even if we feel that they are undeserving of our forgiveness.