I want to write a little about forgiveness.
When God wants to move us forward in life – it could be something God has spoken to us
about, an answer to prayer, new steps in faith, or a spiritual breakthrough – anything that
involves positive changes that God wants to lead us into, this process does not always happen
without friction.
The bible teaches us that the devil is a thief, who wants to steal, slaughter and destroy, and he wants to keep us where we were, or are, for as long as possible. He comes with discouragement and fear to obscure and, if possible, steal what God is telling us about our future, the vision and dreams God plants in our hearts.
He wants to distort our image of God and steal our faith in God’s promises. He wants to keep us in the memory of things we find difficult to forgive, leave or let go. Perhaps we often have the hardest time forgiving ourselves.
When we are stuck in the past and don’t forgive ourselves, the door to our soul is kept open to condemnation, guilt and shame, self-loathing and inferiority.
If we don’t forgive others, we open the door for bitterness to take root along with self-pity, which is a cunning enemy.
We have all failed in different ways, more or less, even those of us who don’t want to admit
it. We have all been hurt at some point by someone else. We get sad, we get tired. The joy in
God, the first love for Jesus, is eroded and becomes religion and Sunday tradition.
But we don’t have to stay there. We can choose to move forward into the world of faith
where God’s promises await us. Because the bible tells us in Philippians 3: Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
We have the power to choose to overcome evil with good, because of Jesus’ victory at
Calvary.
The key to restoration and to the peace and joy we all want to live in is forgiveness and
reconciliation. Both with ourselves and others. With ourselves because when we allow God’s
love to go deep, we must love ourselves too – we must simply be reconciled with ourselves in
order to move forward with Jesus.
Another great gain is when we dare to search ourselves to see what has been our own part in
what has gone wrong in our lives, to deal with it and then move forward more whole, strong
and free.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are steps that take place in our hearts, visible first to the spiritual
dimension and then also visible in the physical realm, when we let go of the past and let Jesus lead
us further into his promises.
For those who love God, everything works out to the best.