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“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

– Isaiah 30:18

Now that we’ve covered what forgiveness is not and how we can set boundaries in the process of letting go, I want to talk about what forgiveness really is. Forgiveness is entrusting justice to God. Forgiveness is acknowledging that a person hurt or wounded you, but then choosing to let it go. You’re not going to forget what happened or say it was okay, but you’re going to wish the best for the person who harmed you; you’re going to pray for God to bless them and ask that He would turn their heart around and that they would find His light, life and goodness. Then, you’re going to lay your sword down and believe the best about them; this may be the hardest part. Even if you keep your distance, you are going to have faith in Jesus’ restorative power, which will cause you to become less offendable as you move forward.

Friend, when you forgive big things it becomes easier to forgive little things. As we revisit the past and forgive the stuff from twenty, thirty or fifty years ago, it enables us to be more compassionate today. The Lord is asking you to forgive, to bless and to enter into a new life; He wants to break every chain that binds you and renew your heart and mind! Isn’t that good news?

Prayer


Jesus, thank you for teaching me to bless those who have wronged me, in a true spirit of forgiveness.

Reflection


Do you entrust justice to God or do you find yourself wanting to “get even”? How does this affect your relationships with others?

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