In Christ

Forgiveness -it is a choice! Forgiving someone can be one of the hardest things to do and you may say, "I can not forgive.” I'm here today to say you can, because it is a choice you make and with God's help you can lose the feelings of hurt, the person caused you.

Forgiving someone can be the most rewarding and freeing experiences, for us as a Christian. It sets us free from the burden and turmoil, we can go through by holding onto an offense. Too often, I hear of someone who has struggled with a hurt relationship caused by someone close to them offending them. When they finally talk about the situation they find that it was a miss understanding and the situation was not as first believed. It is great when relationships are restored, but unfortunately it is not always the case because some people will not forgive.

Forgiveness is not a feeling!

Forgiveness or forgiving someone is a personal choice we make. The feelings will follow. Some people say that when you forgive someone you will forget what they did. This is not true. We don't lose our memory when we forgive. It is true over time the emotions will change especially if the relationship is restored, but we will still remember.

When the feelings of hurt try to come on you or to your memory just say out loud, "THANK YOU LORD FOR HELPING ME TO WALK IN LOVE TOWARDS THIS PERSON! I PRAY FOR THEM TODAY TO BE BLESSED AND THAT YOU SHOW YOURSELF TO THEM TODAY IN A GLORIOUS WAY!” This really bugs the devil. He wanted you to get all upset over what happened and you just prayed for your enemy. There is power to restore relationships and your emotional peace in doing this.

Jesus said it best in one of the most quoted prayers I know, known as the Lord's prayer. Matthew 6:9-16 "9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. 11 Give us our food for today, 12 and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

13 And don't let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. NLT bible

I want God to forgive me when I mess up, so I choose to forgive those who may have did things to hurt me, my family or this ministry.

I choose to forgive and I know I am forgiven! That is freedom!

Submission by Pastor Dale