The Gift of Forgiveness

Just watched a movie 2 weeks ago that reminded me of a great principle we can live with to have a life free of burdens.. :)

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." -Matt 6:14

In the movie, they shared an interesting fact about bees. When a bee sting on something (its victim, i guess..), it produces some kind of toxic substance and then penetrates it into the victim's body. But what's more surprising is, that the substance will pollute the bee's body itself after sometime. whoa!

So..just like the bee, when we are bitter with someone, no matter what the reason is, or how big their offenses toward us are, we are the ones who get hurt more. We might have all the right reasons to be angry or to feel hurt. But, why bother keeping the bitter junk in our hearts? It does us no good at all. It will even make us look pathetic and disperse negative influences amongst our friends. Bitterness can only eats up our joy.

And all the more, we're humans- we're bound to make mistakes too. We've probably have wronged or hurted some people too, without our knowledge. And it's usually easier to forgive others after we've experienced a guilty feeling from hurting others. We'd feel relieved after someone has graciously forgiven us. Sometimes these circumstances happen for a reason- to mold our character, to break our pride. After all, God is just. He will convict us to ask for forgiveness from others but He also wants us to forgive others. :)


As I write and ponder about this issue, I reflect back to my own experiences. Recently, God has been dealing with me a lot in this area of bitterness. I didn't realize it, but the Lord revealed some heartaches and issues that have been left unresolved. Then, He made me see that bitterness can only destroy me. I didn't get anything by being bitter. Only after I decided to forgive the person in my heart and to welcome the person again, that I truly felt the freedom from forgiving. In the end, my heart feels light, and I can think and function optimally at work. And I realize that to forgive is a choice. We don't need to wait until the person comes to us and say sorry. It's a GIFT. When God forgives us of our sins on the Cross, He didn't sign up for an insurance- just in case we don't want Him. :)

To Trust again is a different thing though. There's a very fine line between forgiveness and trust. The Bible clearly tells us that we need to forgive every time no matter what, but to trust- I believe it's something that has to be proven thru time. But I also believe that everybody deserves a second chance. While trusting makes you vulnerable, if you choose not to trust, you could miss out on so much joy God desires for you. You were created for relationships based on both trust and forgiveness. You may move slower in trusting others, but don’t let fear steal your joy and imprison you in anger and hurt. You can trust again … with God’s help.

Dear Friends, the Lord has given a perfect example about forgiveness. This matter will become easier to do if we have someone accountable to pray and share our burdens with. We can encourage one another. Even if it seems impossible or too difficult to let go, but if we really have the willingness to forgive, The Lord will give us the grace to do so.

Have a blessed day :)