It's Time to Forgive!

I've spent almost 30 years trying to figure out my past, and why the things that happened to me hurt me so badly that I couldn't move forward in life.  I was stuck in "neutral" for years.  I even blamed others when it wasn't their fault.  I hurt people who didn't deserve to be hurt, and I hurt others who had hurt me first, but I still shouldn't have acted like I did.  The bible says "love keeps no record of wrongs," (1 Corinthians 13:5), and I was keeping a record book!

I've looked back over the years and seen the damage I have done to others, but God has forgiven me, even if they haven't.  When we ask others to forgive us, we've done what God expects of us.  We are to forgive our brother "70 times 7" (Matthew 18:22), and if they don't forgive us, then it's on them.  If they don't forgive you?  Well, unfortunately it's like  they swallowed poison and their hoping that the person who hurt them will die.  

So, what have you got to lose except the weight of unforgiveness that is sitting on your shoulders?  Satan will taunt you, try to get you to continually remember what that person did to you, and make you look backwards, which keeps you in a stall position that could make you crash!  An airplane can fly, but if it stalls in mid flight, it will most likely crash unless the pilot can pull out of the stall and get the engines going again.  So don't stall!  The longer  you hold it, the more it hurts you!  Forgive those who have hurt you, pray and ask God to help you forgive.  Your unforgiveness only  holds you a prisoner.

I've had horrific things done to me in my past while I was growing up, but I've forgiven everyone who hurt me, and I'm fine now.  I don't have trouble with forgiving people anymore.  I used to get my feelings hurt so easily, especially at church.  If someone didn't say hello back to me, I would immediately get hurt and satan would use it to keep me focused on that person and "why didn't they say hi back to me?  Did I do something wrong?"  I always wound up missing the sermon message because of it.  I was letting satan win!   I had no idea that I was even doing this until years later.  But once I figured out how the devil operates, I started praying for the person who didn't say hello.  I didn't know what was going on with them, perhaps they were ill, or having a bad day, or one of their children hurt them....It was easier to pray for them than to hold a grudge against them!  

So let it all go.  It's only hurting you.  The person who hurt you doesn't even know you are hurting, or that they hurt you.  Maybe they do and they don't care, but you should forgive them anyway.  Especially if you have to live with them! (lol).  There is nothing worse for your family than to hold grudges, keep records of wrongs and just being plain ole mean because of it.  We tend to act like rattlesnakes in the grass with whoever walks by,  not even realizing our unforgiveness of another person is causing us to hurt others who don't even deserve to be hurt!

Jesus told us to forgive others because He had forgiven us.  He died for our sins and that's a pretty big boatload of forgiveness!  He died for everyone who had ever lived, was presently alive and all those who would be born in the future.  He knew every sin we would commit before we were ever born, so we owe Him our obedience to forgive others as He told us to do.

Just remember, your life won't seem any better until you do.  And if somebody pulls the rug out from under you?  Forgive them for it.  No matter how much it hurts.