The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward. ~ Steve Maraboli "Unapologetically you"...
Witnessing what the Lord is doing in the life of a man is changing my perception of forgiveness and of love.
1 Corinthians says that love is kind, love forgives, it keeps no record of wrong, it is slow to anger and quick to forgive. It also says that love finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in all truth.
Sometimes the truth hurts. I see this man seeking righteousness in the middle of all his mistakes. Because mistakes don't go away and the consequences of our mistakes, can sometimes, linger for a lifetime. The current season of his life is shining the grace of God. A grace that none of us deserve.
The word of God says in Romans 3:23 that ALL have fallen out of the grace of God because we all have sinned, but it also says that we are made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. When we come to repentance of our old ways and acceptance of Jesus as our Lord we receive a special gift. Jesus tells us in the bible that He had to leave and be with the Father so that we would be able to receive a gift. This special gift is His Holy Spirit. The word of God tells us the Holy Spirit will help us change our thinking patterns and that He will guide us into all truth and comfort us.
The truth of the picture we want to see, when we act without regard towards the people around us, is different from the truth we see when we come to a true repentance of sins and wrongdoings.
This man has seen others around him have marriages different from his own. His marriage did not have the outcome that was expected. He has seen other men around him go through some of the same struggles he experienced, but with a different, maybe (he could even say) a better outcome. I can imagine he has even compared himself to his peers. We all do it and I don't think he is an exception. And I wonder, did he feel like a failure? If so, how did he deal with those feelings of failure? Was it in the secret of his own heart and thoughts? Did he ever truthfully tell anyone how he felt?
Speaking to others about our failures and mistakes is important. I know there's certain things I knew that others close to him did not know. He did well in not allowing them to see what was truly going on behind closed doors. Appearances to him were important. Does that make him a bad man? No, it makes him human like the rest of us.
These past years he has been open to apologizing to his loved ones. He has done it more than once. Some will accept the apology and set themselves free from the prison of offense and others will not.
The power of forgiveness is misunderstood. We think forgiving someone means we let them hurt us again. We think forgiving people makes us weak. Reality is that only the strong can forgive. Only the strongest people can admit that they are hurt or that they were hurt. It takes a lot of strength to dig deep into pain and explore what damage this hurt truly caused inside of us.
Studies show that the same part of the brain that is activated during a traumatic painful accident is the same part of the brain that is activated when we are emotionally hurt.
When we are physically hurt do we walk around with an open wound? No because it will get infected. What happens when we have an unattended infection? We can experience permanent nerve and tissue damage. Our infected body part can introduce serious illness to our immune system. A serious infection that spreads can cause death... So why do we think that we can go in life walking around hurt and with unforgiveness and not experience consequences?
Scripture says that we are all created with a purpose, it states in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has plans for us, good plans, plans to prosper us and NOT to hurt us.
Believe this truth; We will never experience our best life until we don't truly let go of the deepest hurt and pain we have experienced.
You have been walking around buffering and obsessing over an offense, replaying painful memories in your mind, or even, unconsciously remaining (mentally) in a toxic relationship.
Release it! Let it go! Do whatever you need to do... cry, scream, journal, call a friend. Call the person that hurt you, but please take a step towards forgiveness because great things are on the other side of your ability to forgive.
If we are tired of feelings of rejection, despair, disappointment, shame, confusion, grief, guilt, trauma, depression then let us come to Jesus and learn from His compassionate heart. He was beaten beyond recognition, tortured, humiliated, betrayed and yet He spoke a prayer with one of His last breaths and asked The Heavenly Father to please forgive those who had done this to Him because they did not know what they were doing. When we hurt people, we don't realize what we are doing.
None of us deserve the grace of God, but we receive it, so let us give it in return to those who have hurt us.
Witnessing what the Lord is doing in the life of a man is changing my perception of forgiveness and of love.
1 Corinthians says that love is kind, love forgives, it keeps no record of wrong, it is slow to anger and quick to forgive. It also says that love finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in all truth.
Sometimes the truth hurts. I see this man seeking righteousness in the middle of all his mistakes. Because mistakes don't go away and the consequences of our mistakes, can sometimes, linger for a lifetime. The current season of his life is shining the grace of God. A grace that none of us deserve.
The word of God says in Romans 3:23 that ALL have fallen out of the grace of God because we all have sinned, but it also says that we are made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. When we come to repentance of our old ways and acceptance of Jesus as our Lord we receive a special gift. Jesus tells us in the bible that He had to leave and be with the Father so that we would be able to receive a gift. This special gift is His Holy Spirit. The word of God tells us the Holy Spirit will help us change our thinking patterns and that He will guide us into all truth and comfort us.
The truth of the picture we want to see, when we act without regard towards the people around us, is different from the truth we see when we come to a true repentance of sins and wrongdoings.
This man has seen others around him have marriages different from his own. His marriage did not have the outcome that was expected. He has seen other men around him go through some of the same struggles he experienced, but with a different, maybe (he could even say) a better outcome. I can imagine he has even compared himself to his peers. We all do it and I don't think he is an exception. And I wonder, did he feel like a failure? If so, how did he deal with those feelings of failure? Was it in the secret of his own heart and thoughts? Did he ever truthfully tell anyone how he felt?
Speaking to others about our failures and mistakes is important. I know there's certain things I knew that others close to him did not know. He did well in not allowing them to see what was truly going on behind closed doors. Appearances to him were important. Does that make him a bad man? No, it makes him human like the rest of us.
These past years he has been open to apologizing to his loved ones. He has done it more than once. Some will accept the apology and set themselves free from the prison of offense and others will not.
The power of forgiveness is misunderstood
The power of forgiveness is misunderstood. We think forgiving someone means we let them hurt us again. We think forgiving people makes us weak. Reality is that only the strong can forgive. Only the strongest people can admit that they are hurt or that they were hurt. It takes a lot of strength to dig deep into pain and explore what damage this hurt truly caused inside of us.
Studies show that the same part of the brain that is activated during a traumatic painful accident is the same part of the brain that is activated when we are emotionally hurt.
When we are physically hurt do we walk around with an open wound? No because it will get infected. What happens when we have an unattended infection? We can experience permanent nerve and tissue damage. Our infected body part can introduce serious illness to our immune system. A serious infection that spreads can cause death... So why do we think that we can go in life walking around hurt and with unforgiveness and not experience consequences?
Created with a purpose
Scripture says that we are all created with a purpose, it states in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has plans for us, good plans, plans to prosper us and NOT to hurt us.
Believe this truth; We will never experience our best life until we don't truly let go of the deepest hurt and pain we have experienced.
You have been walking around buffering and obsessing over an offense, replaying painful memories in your mind, or even, unconsciously remaining (mentally) in a toxic relationship.
Let it go!
Release it! Let it go! Do whatever you need to do... cry, scream, journal, call a friend. Call the person that hurt you, but please take a step towards forgiveness because great things are on the other side of your ability to forgive.
If we are tired of feelings of rejection, despair, disappointment, shame, confusion, grief, guilt, trauma, depression then let us come to Jesus and learn from His compassionate heart. He was beaten beyond recognition, tortured, humiliated, betrayed and yet He spoke a prayer with one of His last breaths and asked The Heavenly Father to please forgive those who had done this to Him because they did not know what they were doing. When we hurt people, we don't realize what we are doing.
None of us deserve the grace of God, but we receive it, so let us give it in return to those who have hurt us.
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