Forgive.......Ugggg!

Another word I'm tired of, but the Lord has given me understanding of, is "forgive".  Are you tired of hearing about having to forgive? Are you tired of the lies, like "forgive and forget?" Jesus told us to forgive but He never said that we would forget.  

So here's what has helped me.  There is no one breathing who as not been hurt by someone and you can get quickly cynical about people.  It doesn't take too many years to figure out people are people.  In other words, they  ALL have a fallen nature and in that fallen nature they, are about self preservation.  Of course if we dont look after ourselves, who will? But we don't have to step on our brother to do that!  It's funny though, how I remember all the wrong done to me, and yet I seldom think of the wrongs I did to someone else.  Funny how that works.

So here's the deal! When you figure out that everybody, without exception is born with a sin nature, (the propensity and drawing, to screw everybody), then you're on your way to forgiving!  Some people are worse than others for various reasons, but when you get this, that they're sinners, then you know they can't do any better; this enables you to forgive because there is a simple explanation for why they did what they did.  It's coming out of the sin nature and subsequent hurt and lack in their own lives.  The same goes with Christians who hurt you.  A lack some where they have not turned over to God to fix.

Now, you can forgive because you know the cause of all hurt, but you won't forget. Not unless God does a supernatural work in you and takes it away, but what I have found is that when I remember, at usually out of the blue times,  I say, "NO"!  "I'm not going there!  Lord bless them with a relationship with You.  Open their eyes to their own hurts so that You can heal them." And guess what? It goes away!  Washed away by the blood of Christ!  

Forgiveness is simply offering the same mercy that we ourselves received from Christ. It's all about allowing Him to do the forgiving through you.  I learned this by telling the Lord, "I can't forgive, but you can, so you do the forgiving through me",   and  He  did!

Forgiving doesn't mean you must trust again, but God may heal the relationship where you can trust again, such as in a marriage.  Just relax and let it go!  Allow Him the liberty to work in your heart and theirs and He will turn the worst situation into a chance to draw a closer to Him and see His power at work in the situation.  Forgiveness is turning them over to God and releasing them to God's rightous judgement.

Please read on Holy Ghost led forgiveness in Acts 7:54-59.

The joy of "this is no longer my problem" by casing it onto Christ!  What a deal!

Blessings