Hello ,
There's quite a bit of talk about forgiveness these days, and I'm all for that. In fact we're told through God's word that forgiveness is necessary for our spiritual walks. However, I want to share a
passage from a book called "The Art of Forgiveness," by Lewis Smedes that really hit home when I first read it.
"Let me make sure that we clear up a few misunderstandings about forgiveness. Before we can build, we have to blast. We have to blast away the erroneous thoughts on what forgiveness is not.
· When you forgive a person, this does not mean
you are immediately healed.
· When you forgive a person, this does not mean you are going to be buddy/buddy.
· When we forgive a person, this does not mean we surrender the right to restitution or justice when appropriate.
· When we forgive a person, this does not mean that we trust them, yet.
· When we forgive a person, we are not avoiding pain, we are opening the door to healing.
· When we forgive, we take the journey at the pace we are able to handle...the deeper the hurt, the longer the journey
"
I want to challenge you today, to go back to the book of Matthew, chapter 6, and read what Jesus had to say about forgiveness. It's potent stuff!
Have a great day and God bless!
