One of the
hardest things to do in life is to forgive someone who really hurt you in the
worst way. Often people want to forgive, but can’t let go of the anger, the
thought of revenge, or the bitter memory of the offense. There is so much
advice available regarding forgiveness. People counsel you to confront the
person, do it without confronting the person, keep a journal, put yourself in
the offender’s shoes, be empathetic, talk to someone, forgive yourself for
whatever role you played, protect yourself from further hurt by severing the
relationship, and most importantly let it
go. Bingo! The magic words: “let it
go.” I remember when someone I loved dearly broke my heart.
The hardest
part was letting it go, until I truly understood what I had to let go. I kept
reliving what happen over and over and each time I did I was wrapping a chain
around my own mind. I kept thinking about what the person did, which kept me in
the past. I kept thinking about how I wanted them to see the error of their
ways, which kept me longing for something that wasn’t going to happen. I kept
thinking about what I wanted to do to them so they would feel what I was
feeling, which continue to fill my heart with anger, vengeance, and bitterness.
The more I held onto unforgiveness and all its emotional trappings, the less freedom
I felt.
The pain was the biggest culprit for me in the journey toward
forgiveness, but I knew if I continued to hold on to the pain its whole purpose
was to defeat my freedom to fully live. Like watching an old video my mind kept
pushing PLAY over and over again. Pushing PLAY made me relive the incident and
the PAIN each time. One day I picked up the Good Book and discovered God’s
forgiveness for me. My empathy was
released. I cried like a baby, because I was not deserving of such grace
and love. My pain was released. And
like a bird in a cage, I was set free. My
personal power was released. The chains were finally off!
There is no
magical way to forgive and it varies from person to person. However, I found
supernatural help and a miracle in the Good Book that healed my unforgiving heart…
maybe you can too. “You will know the
truth, and the truth will MAKE you free” (John 8:32).
Pensacola Helene
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