Daily Devotions - Forgiveness
We all go through phases in our life growing up as kids and teens. As we grow older, phases turn into era's. Mostly we look back and laugh, but some phases in our life can make us cry. Illness, bad relationships, and failures can leave us filled with regret, which is the nature of life.
Do you feel like you are losing ground in life? Perhaps there is unresolved conflict that is filling in your wells – and even robbing your inheritance. Heed the admonition of Paul: Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others (Col. 3:13, NLT)
Shame and the guilt keep us from believing our sins are gone. We can't accept God's forgiveness. We become obsessed by how dirty we once were on the inside.
With a sense of pride we claim our rights, prove to others we are right, and hop onto our soapbox to waggle our finger in the face of others. "You can't… You shouldn't… You won't enter heaven if you…" Simple steps that lead others—not to Christ—but lead us away from God.
God tells us that forgiveness is not an option if we want God to forgive us. We are not perfect; we all make mistakes. We will not all agree on everything all the time. We must understand that and learn to forgive those who intentionally or unintentionally hurt us.
Lord, losing a loved one is one of the most difficult, painful experiences to understand. Sometimes that pain has caused me anger as I searched for answers. When I am honest, I realize I am most angry at you for not healing them.
Have you ever been wronged by someone? I mean really hurt to the core? It's probably happened to all of us a time or two in our lives. The pain is worsened when someone close to us does it, such as family, friends or fellow Christians.
Picture for a moment the scene of ocean waves continually rolling onto a long sandy beach. The Lord recently revealed to me that His mercy is exactly like those waves, constant and never ceasing.
We need to forgive those who try to judge us, accept those who try to reject us and love those who try to ignore us. Jesus taught us what to do in each circumstance. He is the example. We are his followers.
Are you nursing a grudge? Are you holding onto past hurts, anger or unforgiveness? How about disappointments and heartache? We tend to dress up a lot of things as Christianity when in reality it's just us barely hanging on and doing our thing in the natural.
I know I am required to forgive when someone hurts me. My problem is, I often don't want to admit that I have been hurt.
More than my apology, this angry woman needs my prayer. Beyond the obvious discomfort of stitches and fatigue lived a deeper wound. It seemed she was unacquainted with forgiveness. Was that why she could not offer it to me?
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