Forgiveness II

      Forgiving sometimes is very very hard, especially when someone has betrayed us in any way and totally devastated and changed the way we thought our lives would be. But even so, as we read last week in my "Forgiveness" blog, the Lord tells us we have to forgive all others and leave it in His hands. Still tough to do, I know, I have gone through it and am still going through it, but at the risk of repeating myself may I say, "The Lord loves effort", and as long as you keep trying He will be there for you.

     May I just add a few other thoughts about holding onto grudges and keeping score and NOT forgiving?! Who is it that gets hurt the most by this? Is it the person you can't or won't forgive? Perhaps a bit IF that person is still a close part of your life, but in reality it will always hurt you the most. Why? Because you carry that weight of anger, hurt, etc., in your heart and it only causes your heart to harden. And it can even turn you into a vengeful, hateful person who just wants to make the person suffer and soon anyone you are around will suffer. And hard hearts never feel peace and joy. SO forgive them so you can feel peace in yourself. as well as bless those around you. Don't carry that extra weight around because it will only tear you down bit by bit and destroy the good person you are.

     But what about justice? Shouldn't that person be made to suffer for all the pain and agony they have caused you and maybe others? Oh, I can assure you they will someday face the greatest judge of all time AND if they have not repented sincerely and done all they can to make things right, they will have to answer to Him!! We will all have to answer to Him, and I prefer to know I have done all I can to forgive others as best I can as He has asked us to.

     Again, it does not happen all at once and sometimes we think we are perfectly okay and something brings back a painful memory and we are back at square one!  But are we really? I think each time we face those feelings and are really trying to overcome them, we are a bit stronger each time and eventually we can overcome them and pull on top again faster, better and stay there longer.

     Another thing we need to remember is that IF the other person really doesn't seem to be sorry for what they've done and are making no effort to change, you do not have to stay close to them, especially under abusive and/or super negative circumstances! You can still forgive them and move on without them in your life, or at least as close as they were. You do your part and the Lord will forgive you, as the scriptures last week pointed out. BUT if they choose not to do their part, then they will face the consequences sooner or later, as we all will!

     So I hope we all can learn to forgive no matter how hard it is and move on so when we meet that all knowing Judge, we can feel at peace to let Him look in our hearts knowing we have done the very best we could!!!