Forgive As Your Father Has Forgiven You

Have you ever thought you’ve forgiven someone and then the hurt creeps back in? ⁣

You find yourself mad all over again or you begin to harbor anger and bitterness towards that person.

I’ve been there.

I was at my kitchen sink early this morning and God spoke to me very clearly. I felt Him say that I have a tendency to dwell on how people have hurt me. This holds me back from opening up fully and has created insecurity in friendships and relationships. ⁣

God reminded me ever so gently that if I’ve already forgiven someone, I shouldn’t bring up past hurts.

This means that in an argument with my husband, I shouldn’t bring up something that hurt me a month ago. This means that I shouldn’t hold something against a friend that happened a month or even a year ago. ⁣
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God keeps no record of wrong. He doesn’t hold our past against us. He doesn’t say “here we go again Kathryn. You messed up like this two years ago and now we’re back here. Get it together.” ⁣
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He forgives the unforgivable and tells us to do the same! ⁣

Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32, NLT)
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I want to be a kind, tenderhearted, forgiving person! People used to tell me I wear my heart on my sleeve and a lot of times I felt like I cared too much or I put in too much effort into friendships. I’m realizing that nothing is wrong with investing my all into friendships and relationships. Why? Because I want people to do that with me! ⁣
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Similarly, when I mess up, I want forgiveness and in turn, I have to extend the same! ⁣
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I heard a saying that we should have the memory of a goldfish with certain things. This means that we should not hold onto it. We should forgive the person, forget the offense and release it to the Lord. ⁣

A hurt or offense shouldn’t take up permanent residency in our minds.
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I believe that’s the message of forgiveness – not allowing hurtful words or hurtful actions to permanently effect us. Life is a lot sweeter when you’re able to let things go and love people despite how they’ve hurt you.⁣
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After all, isn’t that what Jesus did?

In Him,