Into the Fire

It's not easy to forgive anyone who's deeply hurt you. For some people it's nearly impossible. This quote explains the concept of forgiveness. If you've been affronted, harmed, or worse, it's going to take supernatural awareness and intervention to get to the place where you can offer forgiveness.

The forgiveness you give is to set yourself free from the hold the other individuals have over you. For those offenders who truly are sorry for doing you harm, yes, they desire forgiveness. But there are those who don't care anything about how you've been wronged by them. They won't request forgiveness and might not even be sorry for their offense(s).

People often think that by forgiving someone you also must "forget" the actions or words which harmed you. No. You will most likely never forget what was done to you if it was severe enough. Forgiving is a heart action to free yourself from the pain and burden another caused you. By forgiving it, you separate yourself from the deed(s) and give yourself higher ground to walk on. You rise above it to a place where they can't continue to cause you harm.

The Master Forgiver hung on a cross and offered forgiveness for all the insults and evil mankind had perpetrated and done to Him. He took the punishment to provide forgiveness for the multitude of sins exercised on earth. We need His forgiveness because without it, our eternity is bleak and filled with judgment. By acknowledging our need for that forgiveness, we begin to understand why we need to offer it to those who hurt us. To reciprocate. To find a way to emulate what Jesus provided for us when we didn't deserve it any more than the person who hurt us. But there it is.

He set us free. Free to forgive others just as He forgave us. It's not easy, but few meaningful actions in this world are.

Father, help us to forgive. We really can't do it without you – whether we realize it or not. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.