Forgiveness: A Healing ForceSample

The Bitter Root of Resentment

Is there someone in your life that has deeply hurt you? Perhaps you had a father that never really loved you, and it has left a scar on your soul. Maybe something in your past made you angry, and you find yourself entrenched in bitterness. The very thought of a certain person or event might cause rage or resentment to explode in the theater of your mind. 

Maybe your mother wasn’t there for you as a child. She abandoned you. She forgot about you. Seldom, if ever, did she call or check on you. The very thought of her makes you sick to your stomach. 

Perhaps someone in the church lied about you or slandered you, and their words were poisonous darts that caused you great pain. Perhaps you were in business with a partner you completely trusted…until he cheated you out of a great business deal. Maybe a former spouse betrayed you and left you for someone else. Any of these events can easily lend themselves to so many human emotions centered around anger and hurt but based completely on unforgiveness.  

You will never be happy until you let go of the bitter root of resentment and forgive those who have hurt you. Forgiveness is not for their benefit, it's for yours. Forgiveness brings health and peace. It brings emotional and sometimes physical healing. Forgive those who have offended you and watch your relationship with God blossom into a thing of great beauty.   

Forgiveness is, first, an act of your will. If you wait until you feel like forgiving somebody, you'll be waiting till your hair turns white. It will never happen. 

Forgiveness will release a healing force that will forever change your life. Joy will replace grief. Peace will replace anger. Love will replace hate. Contentment will replace frustration. Your mental, emotional and physical health will surge with new life!  Do it, in Jesus' name!  

Today, I want to lead you through a prayer of forgiveness. Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, today I forgive [name of the person] for [what, when, where, and why (be specific)], and now that the spirit of forgiveness has been released from my lips, I am liberated from the burden I have carried for too long. May the Lord Jesus Christ fill me with His love and peace. Amen.