St. George and the Dragon
When you forgive someone, you free yourself. Forgiveness takes you out of the bondage of bitterness and you literally take out the trash that’s preventing you from enjoying all the blessings that God has in store for you.
The word forgiveness draws various reactions. If we’re talking about God’s forgiveness of us, it can be a soothing topic resulting in gratitude and peace. If we need to seek forgiveness from someone we’ve wronged, we might wrangle a bit with our pride before we finally approach that person in humility—but our resulting cleared conscience makes it well worth the effort.
Usually, however, the most uncomfortable kind of forgiveness is what we must extend to someone who has wronged us or hurt us deeply. The Bible says a lot about this kind of forgiveness—perhaps because our emotions arm wrestle with it and other lingering memories skirmish with it. It’s really hard to do.
Find out what God’s Word says about forgiveness, how essential it is to understand, and how to actually do it...if we want to grow in our walk with God.
When you forgive someone, you free yourself. Forgiveness takes you out of the bondage of bitterness and you literally take out the trash that’s preventing you from enjoying all the blessings that God has in store for you.
Have you ever had an experience when circumstances were completely out of your control and there was nothing you could do…except trust God? When that happens it's a good reminder that God is the potter and we are the clay.
A repentant spirit is rarely found in our litigious society. How seldom we say or hear the words, “I’m wrong. I am sorry.”
When you accept Christ as your Saviour you have someone who is always your advocate; always in your corner. And when you forgive those who hurt you, you model Christ. And you become a little more like Him.
When you do something wrong, it is no one’s fault but yours. You can’t blame your parents, your friends, your co-workers, or anyone else. You are ultimately responsible for your actions.
Isn’t it great when someone says, “I forgive you”…just like that? Without pleading or begging for mercy, we’re simply forgiven. That’s probably one of the best feelings in the world.
God’s Word says that there will be a day of judgement. But as Christians that’s not something that we need to fear. When we placed out trust in Christ our guilt was removed, now and for eternity.
When we’ve been wronged, it’s tough to see things from the other person’s perspective. But when we do that, it’s grace in action. Grace lived out in our everyday lives revolutionizes our relationships.
Here is a great story of reconciliation. It beautifully illustrates how broken relationships can be restored by building bridges to one another…instead of fencing each other off.
Life is all about growing and learning. And it’s in the day-to-day living that we learn how to forgive, how to handle disappointment, and admit failure. It’s in the day-to-day struggles that we mature.