Forgive and Forget??

Happy New Year! We hope your Christmas and New Year holidays were
memorable. We enjoyed much family time and peace.

Today I'm sharing a piece from one of the new conference series I'm
teaching this year and the book that I'm writing called, "Forgiving
Him...Forgiving Myself" A Journey of Deepening Intimacy in
Relationships. While we are all considering our New Year's
resolutions, forgiving past hurts is a great place to start! Why not
begin this year with a heart of forgiveness?

I'm very excited about this new conference series and this writing
adventure. Writing is a a little intimidating for me because because
grammatical sentence structure is not my forte! But...that's what
editors are for and I am thankful for having a great one. :)

Steph


Forgiving Him…Forgiving Myself

“I believe I’ve learned the most about forgiveness by personally
applying it to the people I thought deserved it the least”.
-Stephanie Henderson

Let’s be honest, there are some people who, we feel don’t deserve our
forgiveness. They have said or done the ultimate sin; they have
crossed the line once too many times and have brought undeserved pain
into the lives of others. We make statements such as, “They should
not be allowed to breathe air!” At the moment of such intense hurt,
we can feel steadfast in one thought, “I will NEVER forgive them nor
will I EVER forget what they’ve done”.

Forgiveness is tough. Period. While this statement rings true, we
also have to realize the ultimate importance forgiveness plays in
moving forward in healing from our past.

You and I have both read or heard, “forgiveness is two-sided”. I
agree that two-sided forgiveness is the best outcome from unfortunate
circumstances. However, biblical forgiveness is actually one-sided.
In order to exercise biblical forgiveness, I (me, myself and I) must
choose to forgive whether the other party ever chooses to reconcile
the relationship or not. Ouch! It’s one sided.

Matthew 5:44 - But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you,
Matthew 5:45 - that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He
causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 6:14 - For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Mark 11:25 - And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against
anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you
your sins.
Romans 12:20 - On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him, if
he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will
heap burning coals on his head.
Luke 6:35 - But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them
without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be
great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to
the ungrateful and wicked.
Luke 6:36 - Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:37 - "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,
pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Proverb 20:22 - Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait
for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

-Excerpt from "Forgiving Him...Forgiving Myself"

*Stephanie Henderson