Impossible Assignment

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

You don’t understand, Lord.

They hurt me.

Like really bad.

They cut me down, bringing me to my knees.

As a result, I cried.

Ugly crying.

They don’t deserve my forgiveness.

I need to seek revenge somehow.

Something to get them back.

No?

You want me to forgive them?

Why?

Because You have forgiven me?

Yes, I know, but why do I have to forgive them?

I can’t.

You still want me to?

How? With Your strength?

But they hurt me. Deeply. To the core of my being, they hurt me.

You still want me to forgive them?

And give You my pain?

How will that help?

Will you right my wrongs for me?

You will eventually?

You want me to trust You?

With everything?

Even this?

Ok.

Thank you, God, for saving me, forgiving all of my sins.

Please help me to forgive others as they hurt me.

It’s an impossible assignment on my very own.

Help me to release this burdens and those in the future to You.

Help me to forgive as You have forgiven me.

Photos by Elijah PilchardBrooke BalentineGrigorii Shcheglov, & Yannick Pulver on Unsplash

Let Go and Live

And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins. Mark 11:25

How many offenses do you carry?

How many follow you while you go about your day?

Dozens?

Hundreds?

Thousands?

Even one is too many.

Why?

Because offenses discolor our moods.

They cloud the lens we view life.

Not only do offenses keep us in moods not worthy of companionship, they cause us to stink.

Ever been around someone easily offended?

You tend to step back, because you don’t want to get near their odor.

Those people are obvious.

But there’s another type of offense.

It’s the subtle hurt you carry because of unforgiveness.

Yes, it’s probably justified as you were wronged, but you still have a choice.

You can choose to let go and forgive, or keep the hurt and the offense.

Choosing to keep it close, bitterness enters your heart and mind as you begin to dwell on the pain.

And that causes you to stink.

When you don’t forgive, you allow the offender to continue hurting you.

You let them win again and again.

And there’s no winning.

Unfortunately, you’re the big loser with unforgiveness.

When you choose to forgive, you simply release it back to God.

You are asking God to cover the offense with His peace and forgiveness.

As you ask God to help you forgive, He rushes in with His peace to cover the wrong done to you.

Doesn’t mean you reconcile with the person, justify the hurt, or anything of the sort.

You simply let it go, so it does not control you anymore.

We talk a lot about control, because as humans we want control.

But you know as well as I, that we cannot control other people.

We cannot make them humbly apologize.

We cannot make them change for the better.

And we cannot make them be nice to us in the future.

But you can change yourself.

You can release it to God, asking Him to help you forgive that person.

You can choose freedom.

But it’s all up to you.

I know it’s hard to forgive when the other person seems to get away with any and all things.

But don’t allow the real prisoner to be you.

With God’s strength, you can forgive, freeing the prisoner. You.

Photos by Annie Spratt  and  Kiwihug on Unsplas