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We should always have a forgiving heart because holding onto grudges does
nothing to heal the hurt or bring peace to your mind and soul. When we
forgive others for their shortfalls against us, we are not condoning what
they did, but we are showing Christ's centeredness in our lives and that
just as we have been forgiven for our great sins, we must also forgive
those who do wrong against us. We forgive not because we are weak, but
because the Lord who is strong in us commands that we forgive those who
have done wrong to us. Another thing that we must keep in mind is that
forgiveness is more beneficial to us than to the ones we forgive. When we
forgive, we release ourselves from the bondage of hate and open ourselves
to receive the love, joy and peace that God wishes to infiltrate our heart with.
The Lord wishes to bring healing to our hearts, but we must take the first
step to forgive the wrong that was done to us so that healing can begin.
Be encouraged to see the benefits of having a forgiving heart. No matter
what was done to you, the Lord is able to make you forget and not bring
into remembrance. The only thing that you are required to do is to see
past the hurt and allow forgiveness. When we do, great things begin to
take place in our life.
I hope this message encourages and inspires your heart to see the benefits
of forgiveness. Offering forgiveness is much better than continually
swallowing the past hurts and pains of the past and allowing that poison
to keep our life stagnant.
WHAT FORGIVENESS DOES
I was driving down the road the other day when I saw a sign in front of a
church. It said, “Forgive your enemies. It messes with their minds.” As I
read this sign I felt a smile come to my lips, a feeling of delight come
to my heart, and a long, deep laugh come from my belly. When I finally
stopped laughing at the joyous humor on this sign I realized something.
What it said couldn’t be more true.
A person whose mind is full of anger, after all, gives anger to the world
and expects anger in return. In the same way a person whose heart is full
of hate, shares that hate with the world and expects hate in return.
Likewise a person whose soul is full of hurting passes that hurt on to the
world and expects to be hurt again in return. It is a horrible and vicious
cycle that eventually destroys the person’s life and harms everyone he touches.
It is forgiveness that breaks this cycle, however. It is forgiveness that
messes up the mind full of anger and shows it that there is another way to
live. When you forgive another you keep your own mind full of peace, your
own heart full of love, and your own soul full of joy. When you forgive
another you pass these precious gifts along to them as well. When you
forgive another you live the way that God meant for you to live and you
show everyone around you how a Child of God can make this world a better
and more loving place.
Keep on forgiving others then. Keep on messing with their minds. Keep on
helping their hearts and souls. Keep on living the life that God meant for
you to live. If you have to do it seventy times seven times then do so
happily. God never stops forgiving us. Why should we ever stop forgiving others?
By Joseph J. Mazzella
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour,
and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Psalm 103:8-13 “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep His
anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is
from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him.”
1 John 4:10-12 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at
any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is
perfected in us.”
Colossians 3:12-15 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any
man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do
ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: DOES YESTERDAY BELONG TO TODAY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem122.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: IT DID HAPPEN TO US
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony59.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
