Forgive for Forgiveness Sake

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

Today is set aside to showcase love for one another. We are expected to extend love through cards, boxes of chocolate, dinner dates, roses and words of expression. I am the woman who believes that those you love should know they are loved each day by the way you treat them, interact with them and pray for them. Another way love is expressed is in how you are able to forgive them, if/when you are wronged or hurt by them. 

I know, the ability to forgive is not an easy thing to do. I believe God intentionally programmed it to be a challenging act, because in the act of forgiving, we are being forced to participate in an exercise we don’t like to do…self-reflect. However, in doing this, we are eventually liberated from the pain that consumed us, making more room for God to enter the cleared space, developing us into stronger Christians.

Going through this exercise forces us to have to face our hurt, embrace our hurt, express our hurt and….the hardest part of all….release our hurt. It is in the release that we find real happiness, liberation and even love. Now, how many of us can say we have ever done this? If we have, how often? Maybe, once or twice?

The reality is, we tend to carry around more hurt than we release. That was my story years ago…boy could I hold a grudge. I mean, if you said or did something wrong to me, that was a wrap….the door to a relationship was shut, never to be reopened. And, folks who have been in my space for longer than 5 years can attest to that. I have truly grown in how I handle hurtful situations. Although I don’t make it to the release stage in EVERY situation, it is two or three times more that I do than I don't. The difference is found in me praying and remembering.

In developing a stronger prayer life, I am reminded that God’s grace is given to me each time He forgives me for my many sins. As I say, “Don’t cast a stone, you are not ready to receive”…meaning, we ALL have fallen short, made mistakes, are even doing something that God doesn’t approve of right now…so, how dare we not make a sincere/deliberate attempt to forgive someone for hurting us? That is clearly the definition of hypocrisy!

So, I encourage each of us on this Valentine's Day to take a moment to pray to God and your only desired gift  should be, “God, show me where I am failing to release a past or present hurt. Forgive me for holding on to it. And, bless the person who is attached to it, so that we are both healed and experience new love. Thank you for the liberation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Get ready for your breakthrough and new found/never before experienced happiness, peace and love.

Walk in faith; live in love.

And, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!