Giving up the perceived right to punish for a perceived wrong. Forgiveness is both a gift you give someone else and a gift you give yourself.
Many people will condemn themselves or at least think that they really have not forgiven if they still remember a wrong or still feel hurt when they do remember it. This may result in unnecessary shame or excessive apologies.
God does expect that we will forgive, but he doesn’t expect or desire for us to live in shame or under condemnation. Jesus provided for our forgiveness and the forgiveness of others and there is an abundance of grace available.
God has the ability to remember our sin no more, but that is not a human ability. We do not have the ability to forget on purpose. We may very well forget things without meaning to forget, but we cannot just choose to forget a thing. Therefore, we cannot keep thoughts from crossing our mind, but we certainly can do something with them when they do.
What this then means is that forgiveness is something we do at a point in time and over time. Every time we are reminded by the thought and even experience the hurt once again, we have to choose to forgive all over again.
So, there is nothing unusual about you if you recall hurts or wrongs but do yourself a favor and refuse to dwell on them by continuing to choose forgiveness.
Many people will condemn themselves or at least think that they really have not forgiven if they still remember a wrong or still feel hurt when they do remember it. This may result in unnecessary shame or excessive apologies.
God does expect that we will forgive, but he doesn’t expect or desire for us to live in shame or under condemnation. Jesus provided for our forgiveness and the forgiveness of others and there is an abundance of grace available.
God has the ability to remember our sin no more, but that is not a human ability. We do not have the ability to forget on purpose. We may very well forget things without meaning to forget, but we cannot just choose to forget a thing. Therefore, we cannot keep thoughts from crossing our mind, but we certainly can do something with them when they do.
What this then means is that forgiveness is something we do at a point in time and over time. Every time we are reminded by the thought and even experience the hurt once again, we have to choose to forgive all over again.
So, there is nothing unusual about you if you recall hurts or wrongs but do yourself a favor and refuse to dwell on them by continuing to choose forgiveness.
