Forgiveness – the time is now

I prayed on a topic this week and immediately the word forgiveness came to mind. I have to be honest; I immediately searched my heart to make sure I wasn’t harboring any unforgiveness. Unforgiveness can linger at times and you may not even know it. Sometimes we utter the words to God in prayer that we forgive someone, but in our hearts unforgiveness is still there. We cannot fool God. He knows how we feel and what we’re going to do before we even do it. It says in Psalm 139:1-4 ¹ You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

God knows all things, including everything about us. He is omniscient. We cannot get over on Him like we can with man, no matter how much we may try. He sees the heart. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. This is a promise from God that I stand on. I truly believe we do not have to remain in our pain. Trials may come, but it is God who will deliver us from them all. We just have to trust Him. Trust Him with the pain to heal our broken heart and with helping us to forgive the act that was done against us. Jesus says in John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. The end of that sentence speaks volumes. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. I believe this includes forgiving others. We cannot even love without Christ, much less forgive others. God is love.

1 John 4:7-8 ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

I truly count it as a blessing to know that God is our helper and is there to help us accomplish His will for our lives. This includes forgiving one another. It is written in Matthew 6:14 that if we forgive other people when they sin against us, God will also forgive us. This means there is no excuse we can proclaim to get around it. God wants us to forgive and surrender it to Him. Why? Look at the cross:

My sins are nailed on the cross, so is yours, your offenders, and everyone else’s. This is why we have to forgive. Sometimes we may suppress it. Utter the words of forgiveness and then push it to the back of our minds. The person is not in your face, so it’s easy to suppress it. However, as soon as someone mentions their name, or you see them out somewhere, then the heat rises up in your body again and the anger resurfaces. As I said, God knows it already, and pushing it to the back of your mind is not forgiving the person but suppressing it. Neither one of them frees you from the incident…unforgiveness is living with it daily and suppressing it is hiding it until it resurfaces again.

My prayer is that you will search your hearts after reading this blog and admit the truth to yourself and God. I believe this blog is for me too. I understand now why God wanted me to write on this topic. A friend said something to me that I said I had forgiven, but truthfully, I have been waiting for them to need me in the same capacity, so I could speak those same words back to them that they had spoken to me. It wasn’t to hurt them, but to allow them to see the magnitude of their words. That is not forgiveness. Today I choose to let it go completely and not suppress it. I have learned from experience that God has His way and timing to reveal things to the people in order to grow them in their walk with Christ. It is about Jesus Christ and God’s desire for us to be like His Son (Romans 8:29). Trust in His timing.

However, it’s our job to forgive and walk in love. If we’re honest with ourselves, we have asked God for forgiveness many, many times before, so we have to be willing to do the same for others. I’m thankful that we do not have to do it alone. Thank you, Heavenly Father.

I pray you all have a blessed week. Happy Father’s Day to all the men who are fathers and to the men who have stepped into that role in a child’s life. I pray God’s blessings to all the women who are fulfilling both roles in the household as well. May God bless you all and continue to give you the strength to be the parents He has called you to be.

Love you all in Christ,
Ayesha L. Shoulders

If you are not saved, please visit my Salvation Prayer page. God wants you to accept His free gift of salvation today. Jesus has already paid the price.
Thank you Father for your son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

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