There is so much power in forgiveness. I know that, yet I always seem to leave it to the "last". How much more do I hurt myself and the relationships that are involved? I was talking to a co-worker about a friend yesterday reflecting on how when God speaks, she does. She is a rather new believer (in the past 8 years) and it is amazing to see her obedience. In her world, it seems like it is black for white: obey God or don't obey God. I wish I was like that and although I am not now, I want to strive to be more of that person.
The first step: learning how to forgive quickly. This tends to be a really hard thing for me to do. I get so wrapped up in being hurt and how the person doesn't seem to care, that I hold on to it for a really long time unnecessarily. I wish I couldn't remember every hurt or pain, but for whatever reason, God gave me an amazing memory (of the good and bad). The pain seems to stick a lot longer and I need to learn to get rid of it quicker, before is starts to eat away at me.
I happened upon a blog tonight where a woman wrote some profound words on forgiveness.
We don’t forgive because we feel like it; we forgive because we are commanded to. Our choice when someone wrongs us is to be obedient and forgive or refuse to follow God’s command. Waiting until we feel like forgiving is really nothing more than disobedience. And it’s disobedience that hurts us.
Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for it to kill your enemy.
So, tonight begins another new chapter...learning how to be obedient in forgiving quickly. I know it might not always be easy, but I would rather not "drink the poison".
