The Heart of the Matter

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

Our youngest son, Elijah, has been learning some valuable life lessons recently on forgiveness.  It seems tough in our house with two boys, but I digress. In the best way that I could possibly explain to a rising 4th grader, I told him that we all make mistakes or bad choices that 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 situation/conflict/person 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, often escalating the issue/conflict and as a result, causing myself more sorrow than it's worth. 

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

Steal My Sunshine

For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief is deadly.  2 Corinthians 7:10

Can you recall something hurtful that you have said to someone else that you wish you could take back?  Sure, we all do, but some of us continue to let regret rob us of all of our joy.

There are certainly some things I wish that I could have said or done differently. But there is no sense in becoming burdened with regret over something I have absolutely no power to change. 

God will always warn us prior to making a mistake or saying something hurtful so that we can change our mind before we actually make the mistake.  The enemy waits until after we have already made the mistake, long after it's too late, to heap condemnation and regret on us after there is noting we can do about it any longer.

We must not let the enemy steal our joy any longer.  We must ask God for forgiveness and then leave our regrets in the past.

The Heart of the Matter

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

Our youngest son, Elijah, has been learning some valuable life lessons recently on forgiveness.  It seems tough in our house with two boys, but I digress. In the best way that I could possibly explain to a rising 3rd grader, I told him that we all make mistakes or bad choices that 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 situation/conflict/person 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, often escalating the issue/conflict and as a result, causing myself more sorrow than it's worth. 

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

The Heart of the Matter

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

We all make mistakes from time to time and sometimes end up hurting the people we care about the most.  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.

The Heart of the Matter

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

 

 

We all make mistakes from time to time and sometimes end up hurting the people we care about the most.  Lord knows that any member of my family or friends could attest that I have made my 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.