Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Mark 11:25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Luke 6:27 But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.
I could add so many more scripture here because God continues to talk about one thing over and over in His word. That is LOVE. That means loving all people,even our enemies. How challenging is it for us to love those that have sinned against us? Its easy to love those that love us back. The challenge here is loving those that make it difficult. If we are commanded to love our enemies then we must learn that forgiveness comes with that. God forgives us over and over. How can we not forgive others when Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for all that we do wrong? Now that's powerful. He loved us so much that He sacrificed it all. Love is self sacrifice.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[a] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.
Love is enough because God is Love. Try reading a scripture and replacing the word "love" with "God". It makes perfect sense. We are able to Love the way God commands us when we Love God FIRST in our lives. If we love God first everything else will fall into place. Our flesh is unable to forgive, to sacrifice, to love, to be selfless. But its when Christ is inside our spirit that we then are able to love selflessly and to forgive others. Did you know that when you forgive someone it actually is freeing for you? When you let go and forgive you are not saying you agree with what the offender did. When you forgive you are really saying " I'm letting this go so I am able to move forward without the hurt,resentment or anger. It can no longer can live inside my heart.It is what it is and I forgive you." Once you completely "let it go" you set yourself free. The offender cannot steal your joy because you have chosen to not allow any negative emotion build itself up inside you. Grief is a part of the process when someone hurts you. Grief is part of the process through any loss. But realize that when the emotions of grief begin to CONSUME you is where it takes root inside your spirit. If you are holding onto something Give it to God. Confess with your mouth from your heart how you feel.Surrender the pain to Him. He is our healer. When you surrender to God what you are saying is " I trust you God". Trust which is also Faith in God gets God moving.
God uses my story instead of my story using me. Many of you may know that I dealt with the biggest storm in my life a few years ago. I prayed for years for my marriage. But what I was missing was a lack of faith in God. I was trying to control everything. I knew a storm was coming and I surrendered everything to God. I remember that moment so clearly. It was a weight lifted from me that had been weighing me down for years. I waited on God to reveal truth and trusted Him in that. That very same day truth was revealed and my entire world changed. I had faced a fear that many people have which was infidelity. My biggest fear became my reality. I still had hope for my marriage.But after a month, some counseling and lots of prayer God once again revealed more truth to me. God is in the business to restore broken marriages and broken lives. He gives restoration. But both people need to be receptive to that. God knew deep down that I couldn't live in this marriage. God gave me the peace to make the hardest decision in my life. I have never doubted that decision. Through my storm my faith in God grew more than anything and I devoted my life to Him. Since then He has restored my life, my boys lives and blessed us with a Godly man and spiritual leader in our home. The reason I share part of my story is because I had to learn forgiveness. It was easier for me to forgive my ex rather than " the other woman". She is still in my boys life and I have had to accept it. IT IS WHAT IT IS. It has been a challenge trying to have forgiveness for this person. Awhile back I thought I had forgiven her but I kept feeling something inside my spirit that was saying different. Once I realized this I began to Give it to God. Everyday I wake up and give it to God. Pray and ask God to bring anything in your spirit to the surface. Sometimes we don't always recognize that we have things that have taken root deep down. We need to ask God to pluck out the bad things that contaminate our spirits. One of the biggest contaminations to us is unforgiveness. When you hold onto unforgiveness you are unable to give more of yourself to those who you are invested in. Take this moment to reflect within and ask God to bring anything to the surface that you may be holding onto. Ask God for forgiveness for yourself and the sins you have done. Forgive your offender. Give it to God. Invest your time in learning about Gods love and what He commands us to do and remember that if you want to live you must forgive!!!!!
Deutoronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
