Do you have someone in your life that you are still mad at for hurting you? The person that continues to hurt you over and over and ... What do you do when the same person keeps hurting you.Don't you want to hit the person in the face with a hammer or pluck the eyeballs out of their head and watch the ravens eat them or (you knew it was coming) jack them with a sock full of nickels! As much as we think we would enjoy all those things - they are wrong.
I listened to Charles Stanley this morning while at the gym (you knew I wasn't going to do a post without a gym reference) and he was saying how often times pride is the root of unforgiveness. I thought that was an interesting perspective. He went on to explain that pride tells us that we are better than the person who hurt us. We think "how could he/she do that to me" as if we are more important or that our feelings are of more value.
That made me think. I don't ever want to think of myself as more valuable than others. I force myself to think "God loves that person as much as He loves me". It may seem hard to believe but God loves us all equally. If I choose not to forgive, I am in the wrong. It is my responsibility to CHOOSE to forgive.
My point: Forgiveness is not an option. Unforgiveness eats us from the inside out. It makes us bitter and it becomes harder to deal with the longer it goes. God does not love you more than the person you are choosing not to forgive.
Even thinking about the violent options is wrong.
(I removed the first picture I had for this post, it was a little too graphic...)
3 comments:
Wow. You are a freak.
Well I have a friend in high school that I got in a fight with. (yes she punched me, for the record I did not hit back) Well we have not spoke since high school and I still til this day (11 years later) do not know why the fight happened. However, I did something to hurt her and she needs my forgiveness. Two days ago it was her birthday and I sent her a simple message. After I did, I thought maybe I shouldn't have done that. Chris told me it was right and I was healing my past and your blog helped me realize too. So thanks.
This probably means nothing to you but oh well.
Christy, WHATEVER!
Nikki, thanks for sharing. Sometimes it is hard to do the "right thing" but it is well worth it. I am proud of you. After 11 years, most people would've justified it or chose to forget about it. You are a great example of the power of forgiveness. Thanks for the comment.
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