Forgiveness is so hard. I pray everyday that God would continue to shape my heart into a forgiving heart. I need God to do it for me, because on my own, I don't want to forgive. I read a quote once, I don't know where so I can't give credit to the proper person, but it struck me.
Withholding forgiveness is like you drinking poison and you expecting the other person to die instead of you.
Forgiving someone who has wronged you is the way to set yourself free from the pain they caused. Holding onto it doesn't hurt them - it hurts you. They might not be sorry, they might not change, they might not "deserve" it. But I forgive because it sets ME free. It's easy to think that forgiving means letting them off the hook or accepting the wrong. That's not true. Forgiving lets them off my hook and puts them squarely on God's hook - and that my friends - is not a hook that any person wants to hang on.
God's very word calls us all to forgive. There are verses upon verses upon verses that call for forgiveness. Google it, look in your concordance, you will see a ton of places to look. I am called to forgive because God forgives me. I didn't deserve it, and yet He died for me.
But how do I do that in real life?
I can't on my own. It is through Christ alone. I have to turn it over daily, sometimes hourly.
Does that make me a doormat?
If forgiveness, love, mercy & grace make define your doormat - then Praise God because I'm a doormat!
By God's grace alone - my heart - and OUR home - will always be a place where forgiveness can be found. The door to our home and my heart will always open. Choosing forgiveness, choosing love and standing in Christ.
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