Forgiveness is a Blessing

For all of the grandeur and power that our God possesses, and for all of the majesty that He displays throughout His creation, there is a great gentleness and loving tenderness that our Lord reveals to those who place their faith and trust in Him. 

Remember the feeling of lightness and mercy we felt when we realized that we were forgiven for all the wrongs that we did? Remember how God’s mercy and forgiveness was a gift that we each hoped for but were unsure that we would receive? Remember the tenderness of His words when we came to Him with a humble and repentant heart. Remember the feeling that washed over us when we felt our Heavenly Father say that we were forgiven? It was a wonderful feeling of release, and it is a feeling that we still experience when we come to God’s Throne of Grace and ask for forgiveness.

The truth is that every one of us has done something wrong to someone in our life, as we all have had wrongs done to us. When we feel injured and angry feeling from someone’s  past offense, we need to remember Paul’s words found in Colossians 3:12-13 where he reminds us, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also.”

Forgiveness is often easy to discuss but difficult to do. Sadly, our lack of forgiveness is an anchor around our neck that weighs down our soul. Also, our failure to forgive someone does not please God. We also understand that forgiving is not forgetting. Forgiveness is not holding on to the wrong that was done to us. It is doubtful that Jesus can forget what was done to Him throughout His entire trial and crucifixion, yet He asked His Father to forgive them as He spoke these words from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”  (Luke 23-34)

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will grant us a heart of forgiveness. Pray for a heart that is understanding and compassionate to the failures of others. Let our Comforter and our Counselor provide us with help to forgive those who have done us the greatest harm. May we release every hurt and every feeling of unforgiveness to God and let God’s healing begin.

We need to remember that God wants us to lean on Him whenever we have a hurt that seems too difficult to forgive. Even if we do not feel forgiving at this time, let us speak forgiveness over those who have hurt us. The truth is that each one of us is on our own path and may not realize the hurt and harm that we are doing or have done to someone else. Let us follow the example of Jesus and ask for our Heavenly Father to forgive those who have done us wrong, for they really may not fully understand the wrong that they were doing.