Day 9: The Gift Of Forgiveness

There was a time when I thought

if I just said the right words...

did the right things...

or tried a little harder...

I could

FIX IT.

So I tried.

Really tried.

I apologized.

I humbled myself.

I asked,

"I AM SORRY. WILL YOU FORGIVE ME?"

But nothing changed.

The relationship was still broken.

The hurt

was still real.

The hole

in my heart

was still there.

Then the

HOLY SPIRIT

quietly whispered

to my heart,

"You cannot control another person's response.

But you can choose your own."

So,

I did

the only thing

left to do.

I

FORGAVE.

Not because everything

had been made right.

Not because everything

had been restored.

But because

JESUS

had already

FORGIVEN

me.

And then

something unexpected happened.

The relationship

wasn't immediately healed...

but

my heart was.

The BITTERNESS

began to melt away.

The ANGER

lost its grip.

The weight

I had been carrying

was lifted.

Was the hole still there?

Yes.

But every day

JESUS

continued to fill it

with

HIS LOVE

and

HIS

FORGIVENESS.

That day I discovered

something I will never forget.

FORGIVENESS doesn't always change the other person.

But it always

changes the person

who makes the CHOICE to FORGIVE.

 You can't make anyone

FORGIVE you,

nor

can you make anyone

 FORGIVE themselves.

So what do you do when you've done everything your know to do?

You still FORGIVE. 

FORGIVENESS is the greatest gift to GIVE,

because

it is the greatest gift first to RECEIVE~

"FORGIVE us our sins,  for we also FORGIVE everyone who sins against us"

(Luke 11:4 NIV.)

Oh the words we pray to

 OUR FATHER.

The amplified bible version AMPLIFIES the "who" we FORGIVE~

"And FORGIVE us our sins,

For we ourselves also FORGIVE everyone who is indebted to us

 [WHO HAS OFFENDED OR WRONGED US]"

(Luke 11:4 AMP). 

Ouch.

Perhaps the person who needs your

FORGIVENESS

 is someone

 who deeply offended or deeply hurt you.

Or perhaps

"you" are the you who needs

to ask for FORGIVENESS 

because

 you have offended or deeply hurt someone else.

Ouch.

Then Matthew,

takes us even deeper.

"And FORGIVE us our debts, as we have FORGIVEN our debtors

[letting go of both the wrong and the resentment]"

(Matthew 6:12 AMPLIFIED).

FORGIVENESS~

"letting go of both the wrong and the resentment".

And there it is.

FORGIVENESS.

LETTING GO

of both

the wrong and the resentment.

FORGIVENESS!

Simple to say.

Difficult to live.

And Impossible

without

JESUS!

For JESUS FORGAVE first,

as

as those three words of

"IT FINISHED" 

bled out of

HIM as HE FINISHED what HE was born to do.

The debt was paid.

The burden was lifted.

The door to FORGIVENESS was opened forever.

From the CRADLE to the CROSS.

From CHRISTMAS to EASTER.

From your yesterdays to this very moment.

For FORGIVENESS never dies,

yet UN~FORGIVENESS slowly kills the heart.

Do you need to RECEIVE and then give the gift of

THE GRACE OF FORGIVENESS?

The GIFT wrapped in swaddling clothes

was unwrapped on THE CROSS.

That is why we celebrate

CHRISTMAS IN JULY.

Because the BABY born in Bethlehem

still whispers to every heart,

"YOU ARE FORGIVEN".

Therefore,

RECEIVE TO GIVE

THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS

because

THE GIFT OF EASTER~

OUR FATHER,

I, _____________ (say your name)

RECEIVE YOUR FORGIVENESS for ______________.

I, ______________,

FORGIVE ________________,

by "letting go of both the wrong and the resentment".

THANK YOU JESUS

for the

GIFT of

"FORGIVENESS"

(listen to the song below)