Forgiveness

When I began my walk with Christ I realized I was harboring a lot of past resentments and grudges toward others and also toward myself. I was believing a lie. A lie that told me that those who had wronged me didn’t deserve my forgiveness, and that the things I had done didn’t deserve the forgiveness of others. I struggled with this for a long time until I came across this scripture:

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” – 1 John 4:20 KJV.

I loved God, but I was a liar. It was one of the hardest truths I had ever heard. I did not want to be a liar. Letting go of past resentments proved to be a very difficult task. I was holding on to so much hatred inside me, especially toward myself, but if Christ could forgive those responsible for his crucifixion, then it was possible for me to forgive. It wasn’t an overnight accomplishment. It took time, patience and a lot of prayer. I had to keep reminding myself that the things of my past were nothing in comparison to what Christ endured for us, and that the soul of that person is just as precious to Jesus Christ as mine is.

Being able to let go of those resentments enabled me to become the loving wife that my husband needed me to be, the mother that my children so desperately needed, and it helped me to become a better member of the body of Christ.

I can forgive those in my past because I have also been forgiven for my past.

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”- Ephesians 4:32 KJV