forgiveness. but why?

forgiveness. why should i do that? when they have hurt me so much, why should i forgive them?

1. GOD has forgiven you. you’ll never have to forgive anybody more than you’ve been forgiven by GOD.

2. bitterness makes you miserable. it doesn’t work.

3. forgiveness is a two-way street and you’re going to need more forgiveness in the future. we pray in the LORD’s prayer, “forgive us our debts as we forgive everybody else.” forgive us, in the same way we forgive everybody that’s hurt us. do you really want to pray that? GOD, i want you to forgive me as much as i’ve forgiven everybody else.

you say “but i could never forgive that person.” then i hope you never sin. because forgiveness is a two-way bridge, and don’t burn the bridge you’re going to have to cross over to get to heaven. we are to forgive others because we have been forgiven.

there’s an amazing truth that happens that when you hold on to a hurt: the more you hold on the hurt, the more you focus on the offender. and the more you focus on the offender, the more you actually move toward them. and any psychology book will tell you that whatever you focus on and move toward, you end up becoming. here’s the point: if you don’t release them, you end up resembling them. “i’ll never be like my mother!” oh yeah? the more you focus on the very person who hurt you, the more you become like them. you’ve got to let it go. there’s not a better time than right now.

just a thought from the porch…