Love that forgives
I haven’t written some article lately and did not know what to write about. So I asked God and he told me to write about forgiveness. That is something I have some experience with and I pray that if this is the topic for your heart right now, that the Holy Spirit touches your heart and fills it with his love.
Because maybe you have been hurt or betrayed by someone at some point in your life?
I imagine yes, because we are humans and humans make mistakes. Sometimes I offend someone or cause pain to someone and sometimes I am being hurt.
We know that we should forgive people who hurt us, but sometimes it feels like we just cannot. The damage and the disappointment has been too far-reaching and so we cover up the ache.
And the closer the person is to us, the more we suffer. Sometimes the pain can be excruciating, when you have been betrayed by a deeply loved person, for example a partner or someone from your family.
I experienced this kind of pain when my former boyfriend started a relationship parallel to ours, while living abroad for six months. When I found out my world collapsed, I have never felt this kind of hurt before. If you can relate, you know what I am talking about.
The agony was too much to endure by myself and I did not want it to turn into bitterness, revenge or hate. In Proverbs 10, verse 12 it says: Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.
So I turned to God, because I knew, that he can fully and truly comfort me. Talking to God started the healing process. And in and through the healing process I was able to forgive.
In my opinion forgiveness is receiving and giving, and it is nothing that we can do out of our own strength. We need God to work through us. From my experience we are able to forgive others, when we have experienced forgiveness for our own shortcomings. And because I experienced God’s forgiveness in my life, see my testimony Jesus - getting to know him better (youtube.com), I was able to forgive my former boyfriend with God’s help.
In Ephesians 4, verse 31-32 it says: Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
And why should we do that? Because God loves us and wants peace for us. He wants us to live with love and have love and compassion and mercy for other people around us.
God is not compelled to forgive us, he chooses to forgive us because he loves us.
And we all mess up. We all have hurt someone, disappointed someone, lied to someone, said something that crushed someone. We are humans, we are all in need of forgiveness. And the more we mess up, the more we appreciate God’s love and forgiveness.
In Luke 7 verse 41-42 it says: Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
God is so merciful, he cancels our debts, he throws our sins into the depths of the oceans, not to be brought up again, he even erases our transgressions from his memory.
And this is the truth. And because God is love he choses to forgive. He wants us close to him.
Another example of how God shows love, compassion, and mercy is with his relationship with David. He chose to forgive him, the one who commited adultery and then indirectly killed the innocent husband of Bathsheba.
David came clean about his sins, we learn this in Psalm 32,5: Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
God forgave David and gave his heart peace and rest. And David’s love for God increased massively because he was forgiven so much. He writes in Psalm 103: He forgives all my sins and heals all my deseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
Does this not sound like joy, peace, gratitute and love?
And that is exactly what God intends us to have. To have a heart full of love for him and gratitute for what he has done in our lives.
When we come clean and confess our transgressions from the bottom of our hearts, just as I have done and what David has done, God forgives us and heals us. And this love motivates us to forgive others as well.
Lastly, in Matthew 6, verse 14-15 Jesus says: If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Again, God loves us and he wants to heal our hurt, so we can be free through him and love and truly forgive those who have deeply hurt us.
I pray that God’s love touches your heart, and helps you overcome your disappointments, hurt and hatred, so that your heart and mind can encounter the healing power of God’s forgiveness.
In Proverbs 17, vers 9 it says: Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.
Because of his healing power I was able to keep a tender heart, get rid of jealousy and was able to build trust again. In our case a reconciliation was possible and we were able to rebuild our friendship and start new.