God gives us many rules to follow and for good reason. He is teaching us to live right and justly. God's greatest gift to us was His Son, Jesus dying on the cross for OUR sins. God wanted us to be right with Him! And then to receive his forgiveness all we need to do is repent and ask. There is no sin so bad, that can't be forgiven. The key is to repent and truly turn from your sin. God knows our heart better than we know our heart and he'll know if we are "faking" it.
There is one more part to forgiveness and that's forgiving others. Matthew 6:14-16 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." It makes sense, doesn't it?! How can you expect God to forgive you when you are holding grudges against others.....? Mark 11:25 "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
I know forgiving is NOT easy. It can be really hard to let go of the bitterness, anger, resentment, and hurt. And sometimes we don't want to let it go. We like the feeling for whatever reason. But the reason I love God's gift of forgiveness is because I don't have to hold onto those horrible feelings and I don't have to avenge the wrong done to me. Romans 12:19 (NIV) "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord."
When you forgive someone, you aren't "letting them off the hook". I think when we forgive someone we feel like we are saying it was okay whatever he or she did. But in reality you are freeing yourself from those horrible feelings of hatred, bitterness and anger. Eph 4:26-27,31 (NIV) "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
"Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust, said, 'Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free, and to realize the prisoner was you.'"
Forgiveness is a choice and a choice you'll have to make many times. Sometimes you'll have to make the same choice over and over again. But with God's help and praying for the other person, you'll move on and experience freedom. Forgiving someone isn't for her but for you! Don't get stuck in those ugly feelings and bad attitudes because you are only hurting yourself.
