Forgiveness, The Way to The Future

I have been thinking about Forgiveness lately. It seems as though a lot of people are either experiencing forgiveness in their lives or they need direction on how to begin the process of forgiveness. These are my thoughts.

For almost four years I thought I had forgiven specific people from my past simply because I said I forgave them. I would get ready for work and call out specific names of people and tell God “I forgive them.” I thought that meant everything was fine, door closed, problem solved. I was dead wrong. The hurt was still there it just buried itself under the surface.
Years carried on and I never gave another thought although I knew something was still hurting inside. I began a new process in my life and a new relationship with God. As I came out of my daily Bible time God began telling me “Call (insert name here) and ask them to forgive you.” I felt instant peace after hearing Him say this. Everything inside me knew I had to talk to that person. So one by one I began making phone calls and writing emails. As I asked for and received forgiveness from these people I felt happier and I knew God was behind this process.

I do not assume to be an expert on the topic of forgiveness but I have learned a thing or two about it. I am noticing people I cross paths with are going through the pains I once experienced. They are either unaware of the need to forgive or they are aware of the need and are scared and unsure of how to go about everything.
This morning I was thinking about these people. God showed me that, unlike me, He did not simply speak His forgiveness upon the world. He acted upon it sending Jesus as His act of forgiveness to you and I. In the Old Testament people didn’t simply go before the priests and say, “tell God I am sorry for my sins.” They acted forgiveness by bringing their sacrifice before the altar and repenting.
Today we are to repent of our sins. Repentance is an action. Repentance is a turning away from our sins and turning towards God.

You have acknowledged that you need to forgive someone or you need someone to forgive you. You must act upon this acknowledgment. Don’t just think about it and then place those thoughts or feelings on a shelf. Pull them down and act upon them.
There is a freedom that God wants His children to experience in 2012 and the way to experience this freedom is through the action of forgiveness.
The saying is true, “actions speak louder than words.”

Ask God to show you areas in your life where He wants to release forgiveness. You will go deeper with Jesus and experience a deeper level of His love in your life when you choose to follow this process.