FORGIVENESS

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. 

Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”   

Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

One of the hardest things to do when someone has hurt us either emotionally, mentally, or both is to forgive them. Just saying the words “I forgive you” is one thing but saying them from our hearts is something completely different when it comes to the intent and meaning behind these three words. In Luke 15: 11-32 (The Prodigal Son) we are shown the real meaning of what it means to truly forgive someone. The youngest son in this story begged to receive his inheritance early. His father gave it to him, and the son left and spent all his inheritance living a sinful life. After realizing the errors of his ways, the son returns home this time with a much humbler attitude. 

The son is prepared to beg his father for forgiveness as well, but when his father saw him walking towards their home the father ran out to his son with great compassion and forgave him without asking any questions. He just showed his son so much love in that moment. I know in my own life forgiveness has been something that for a long time I really struggled with. I would say the words because I knew as a Christian it was what I was supposed to do, but I never felt better or had any real peace about it. 

True forgiveness that leads to peace comes from the heart. God helped me to examine my own heart and brought some things to my attention that I had not really dealt with from a place of true forgiveness. I prayed and asked God to help me in this area because harboring negative thoughts and feelings was not something I wanted to do anymore towards anyone. God did a work in my heart and over time I was able to go from just saying “I forgive you” to truly forgiving anyone who had hurt me from my heart and was able to experience the peace that went along with it. 

You may be in a place right now where it is hard to forgive someone, but I encourage you to seek God in this area and ask Him to transform your heart so you can extend forgiveness and love to anyone who needs it. True forgiveness is what God calls us to do as followers of Christ. 

Heart Questions:

Ask God to reveal to you anyone that you need to truly forgive.

What are the benefits to forgiving them?