So in continuing with this idea of relationships and loving others like God has loved us, it is also important to forgive others. We should forgive others just as God has forgiven us. Think of the Lord's prayer, "Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". If God is going to forgive us of our sins we must also learn to forgive others for their sins.
One of the hardest and most freeing things you can do is to forgive someone who has hurt you deeply. It is not always easy to forgive but it can be done. We have to offer everything up to the Lord, even our relationships with other people. We have to forgive in order to really be able to love. Asking/Receiving forgiveness is an act of love.
I have thought for a few years now that I have forgiven everyone who has wronged me, that is until I came to Costa Rica. For the past couple months, God has been continually bringing up a past hurt in my life that I have suppressed and tried to deny.
For a while, I have been trying to work through this hurt/pain on my own. I have opened up and started talking to people about it in order for me to fully understand my issue and pain. I started praying to God to help me through it and yesterday God answered my prayers.
As I sat in chapel before the sermon started, a woman got up and shared her testimony of forgiveness and love. Just then, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest as God showed me that my hurt, pain, and issues were the result of an unforgiving heart. I am not sure why forgiveness never entered my mind before, but I am so grateful to God for showing me the way to go. I needed to forgive those people who had hurt me so many years ago and stop projecting that anger and pain on others. I needed to offer everything up to the Lord. I did this by forgiving others by acknowledging the pain they caused me and by making the decision to love them just as God loves them. I chose to let go of that hurt and pain, and I also confessed my own sins to the Lord and asked for forgiveness. Later on, I shared with a friend my decision to forgive those people, I confessed my sins again, and asked her to help keep me accountable.
It is so crucial that we do these things in order to live at peace with one another and to fully experience the joy and life God has to offer. Forgiveness is something we all need, but it is also something we need to do. Because of the hurt and pain you may feel forgiving might be something you have to do daily and pray about. You might have to daily forgive those who have hurt you until that pain is gone and you have completely given it over to the Lord. Remember, love keeps no records of wrongs. Once you forgive someone, that pain and hurt that they may have caused is to no longer be used against that person. It is to be forgotten.
"Lord forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".
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