Forgiveness Seems So Far When Hurt Is So Near

---

Before I begin our read for this week, I’d like to share a scripture concerning forgiveness. Ephesians 4:31-32 "31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” This is just one scripture however, there are several scriptures all throughout the bible that instructs us on forgiveness. I was reading an article where it is said that “The number of times that forgiveness is mentioned in the bible is an interesting topic and has an exact answer if you’re strictly looking only for the word “forgiveness”. However, the concept of forgiveness is mentioned many more times than the word itself.” The article also goes on to say that “Forgiveness, as a concept, is mentioned more frequently. For example the word “Forgive” appears 42 times in the Old Testament and 33 times in the New Testament. The word “Forgiven” appears 17 times in the Old Testament and 28 times in the New Testament. And the word “Forgiving” appears 6 times in the Old Testament and 1 time in the New.” http://garyeugenehowell.com/hearinggodsvoice/how-many-times-is-forgiveness-mentioned-in-the-bible/

Now, let’s take this a step further and get real with this forgiveness thing. As you can gather now, the word, forgive, forgiveness, and the concept of forgiveness is all throughout the Holy Bible, so we can’t run from it. LOL! God laid it out for us to live by y’all. However, if I can be real about this forgiveness thing and keep it “one hunnit” LOL! It just isn’t easy sometimes. When we have been offended, deeply wounded, hurt, back-stabbed, betrayed, slandered, lied-on/to, used, abused, mis-used, etc. by someone we trusted, loved, cared deeply for, once the scars are there, they can seem difficult to heal from and forgiveness can seem so un-real. As a matter of fact forgiveness is sometimes not even on our minds, in our spirit or heart. Your flesh be right there hollering “girl get him back!” or “dude, you gon’ let her play you like that’?!” All we want to do is get them back for what they did to us right? Yeah, I know, that's our human nature, but the word of God tells us in Romans 12:17-19 “17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” This very scripture tells you that you don’t have to do a thing; God will deal with those matters concerning you. In other words, let God fight for you, He always wins!

So, okay, you’ve been in a relationship/relationships, or marriage where you’ve probably experienced heartbreak and heartache to the rotten core but hey, the first thing I would encourage you to do is to first thank God that you made it out. It doesn’t matter how you made it out, the fact of the matter is that you did! Then ask God to help you to forgive that person(s) who wronged you, cheated on you, betrayed you, used and abused you. After you’ve forgiven them, go on with your life. Don’t hold grudges or repeat that sorry cliché’ “I forgive but I won’t forget” because you know what that really says? That only says that you have not truly forgiven. The only thing you have “given” was nothing but lip service to God and the person that offended you which means that you really don't have forgiveness in your heart. So honestly, you can save your words until you are truly ready to forgive and move on with a pure heart. Besides, God knows your true intentions anyway. See, I have been where you are/were. Forgiveness at times was difficult for me after hurt, betrayal, break-ups, etc, but I had to develop the mindset where I wanted to be blessed in every area of my life. I wanted all that God had and has for me. I was determined that unforgiveness nor anyone would get in the way of my destiny, blessings, purposes and all that I was to become and becoming daily. So, that’s when I truly forgave, held not another grudge and began to experience true freedom! Unforgiveness is a spirit of bondage and imprisonment. It’s like you holding yourself hostage. Think about it, you holding yourself hostage by holding onto unforgiveness and then there’s God waiting on you to let go and receive his forgiveness and waiting for you to release yourself to forgive those who have wronged you.

Which brings me to my next point, now when Jesus was being crucified on the cross, what did He say to the father as he was hanging there, bleeding, suffering, wounded for YOU & I, paying the price for our sins and the sins of this wicked world? He paused to say to His father, in Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." I must say, they really did not know what they were doing. They had no clue that in three days later Jesus would rise again with ALL power in His hands! I pointed out this text of scripture because it made me check myself and get my mind right. I want you to think as I had to several times, when we are offended by someone, we think why me Lord..., or woe is me… well ask yourself as I did, “why not me”? Who am I to say such a thing or think that it shouldn't be me? Besides, I am made in His image and I am His child, which means that I too will have to go through things, suffer a bit and so forth but I will come out of this just as Jesus did and that is victoriously. Jesus, in all of His pain, agony, suffering, and brokenness (Literally broken body, not just what we claim as brokenness in ourselves) still had a heart and spirit of forgiveness up on the cross. So, you mean to tell me that you can’t forgive him/her for cheating on you, lying on/to you, betraying your trust, using you and abusing you mentally/physically? I say yes, you can. So what they don’t care, don’t apologize or come back crawling on their knees, or running back to your arms with the same ole’ same ole’, let it go and remember that you can forgive them and that forgiveness is worth it. Philippians 4:13 says that “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” So, yes brotha, yes sista, you can! I understand that it might not happen over-night, surely it might take some time but don’t walk in the unfruitfulness of unforgiveness. Bear good fruit and live a lifestyle of forgiveness.

Also, let's not play victim because if we be honest with ourselves, we've all had times in our lives, some even now when we desperately needed and cried out to God to forgive us of our daily sins, stepping out of His will, offenses to Him and to others. How did it feel knowing you needed forgiveness and all that you had to do was go to God and ask Him, and what did He do? He forgave you just like that and sometimes for the same sin(s) over and over and over again. But, you see, that's the kind of God we serve. He is SO FAITHFUL & just! If Jesus can forgive you every time you mess up, turn your back on him, knowingly and unknowingly sin, then why can't you forgive someone else? The only answer to that is maybe you just don't want to. But hey, you are only hurting yourself now. We are talking freedom from un-forgiveness, so sis/bro, how bad do you want to experience your freedom to forgive and receive your blessings? I want you to be free! Forgiveness is not so far, after all when God has laid out the blue print for you and I to live accordingly. How may times should we forgive others? I'm glad you asked :-) There is absolutely no limit. As a matter of fact, Matthew 18:21 states "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!" Luke 17:4 states that, "Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." Yes, God tells us that we MUST FORGIVE. Now, 70x7 as we all know to be a multiplication expression has the product of 490. But that is NOT what God is saying to us, He is NOT saying to forgive up to 490 times and when you get to 491, your forgiveness contract is up. There no need to do the math here, you can put you pen/paper/calculator away now, LOL! The expression 70x7 as God intended symbolizes boundlessness meaning that it is symbolic for infinity. This means that God expects us to forgive infinitely because that is the number of times He forgives us. There you have it, there is no limit to forgiveness. No need to count, because when it comes to needing forgiveness from God, it doesn't run out for me or you so why should we run out of forgiveness when it comes to us forgiving someone else? It shouldn't, so just keep on forgiving, just as Buzz Light year said in the movie Toy Story, "to infinity and beyond". :-)

As I bring this blog to a close, I would say to start with you first. It might be yourself that YOU need to forgive. Have you ever thought about that? We can tend to be so hard on ourselves. Sometimes the toughest thing to do is to forgive you. Lord knows, it had taken me a long… time forgive ME, but I got tired of the torture, pain, agony, and depression, and said okay, i’m letting this go, I’m forgiving me, because I know that my father has forgiven me, so I just need to get out of my own way. I decided to no longer hold grudges against myself nor anyone else. I was tired of living in prison because I hadn’t forgiven me or them, but the time came when I got some sense and realized that enough was enough! I was ready to be free! After I began to forgive and walk in my freedom, I felt like Tony the Tiger, I felt grrrrreat! LOL! John 8:36 says “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” You like I, can be free today if you just start with you. Look your-self in the mirror, let it all out, let it all go, cry if you must, but don’t stay there too long so that pity won’t try to ease its' way in. I’ll leave you with this starter package. FORGIVE YOURSELF, FORGIVE THEM & WALK IN YOUR FREEDOM! Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself & might I add to that, it is "the gift that keeps on giving."

Much love,

Demetria

If you would like to share/add anything, have any questions or prayer requests, please see the Contact Us tab, fill out the form, and we will get back to you a.s.a.p.

Please take some time to listen to this amazing song! I pray it blesses you as it truly blessed me.