The Heart of the Matter

Freely you have received, freely give.  Matthew 10:8

We all make mistakes from time to time and sometimes we end up hurting the people we care for the most.  The good Lord knows that any member of my family or friends could attest that I have made my fair share of mistakes.  The only way to bring healing to a broken relationship, friendship, or marriage is by forgiveness.

Forgiveness allows both parties to move forward in the relationship with renewed freedom and strength.  Even if you are not at fault,  you can find peace by extending forgiveness. 

We have all been freely forgiven by our Father who loves us more than we can comprehend, so we must be fast to offer it freely to others.   

Hard To Handle

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.  (Ephesians 4:32)

Our son, Elliott, has recently been learning some valuable life lessons on forgiveness.  In the best way that I could possibly explain to a four year-old, I told him that we all make mistakes or bad choices and hurt other people’s feelings at times. 

Forgiveness as I understand it, means letting go and letting God.  Sometimes, we may not receive the apology we seek from someone who has hurt us.  In those instances, we must turn that person or conflict over to God and let Him deal with it.  When we turn it over to God, we must trust Him to handle things His way and NOT our own.

It makes no difference if someone asks for forgiveness or not, we must learn to extend forgiveness at all times.  Too often, I have held onto my hurt feelings for long periods of time, waiting on someone to ask for forgiveness. 

The sooner that we forgive, the sooner that God begins His good work and the healing process in us. 

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  (Psalm 103:8-10)


The phone call with my sister started out like any other yesterday, but quickly took a turn for the worse with both of us saying some very hurtful and destructive things to each other before the conversation ended.  I certainly went about things the wrong way; I was angry, defensive, and hurled insults instead of following Jesus' principle of turning the other cheek when someone has wronged you.  I felt guilty for my actions the remainder of the evening and called to apologize but she did not take my call and I had to leave my apology on her voice mail.  


Why is it so easy for us to say hurtful things to the people we love the most, especially our family? The more I reflect on the things we said to each other the more I began to be overwhelmed by how loving, forgiving, and slow to anger God is with me.  What if God actually gave us what we deserved?  What if God kept a list of our wrongdoings and we were repaid according to our sins?  Thankfully, the ultimate price has been paid for our sins and we will never have to experience God's wrath for our iniquities.  


Just has God forgives us, we are to extend forgiveness to others who have hurt or wronged us.  It's not as easy as it seems, but it's the only way to mend and repair a broken relationship and move forward in love.