Forgiveness; a ray of light!

I have learnt that forgiveness is not when we sweep matters or obstacles in a dark corner in our hearts and carry on as usual. True forgiveness gives birth to a ray of light. That light provides illumination such that you see the matters and obstacles clearly, you see them enough for them to stop being an obstacle.

We get hurt the most by the people we love the most, and I believe the reason is because we expect them to be ‘perfect’. When we hold on to the hurt, we find it almost impossible to forgive the one that has hurt us.

I’ve heard people say so many times that forgiveness is never easy but I believe that one thing that makes it easy to forgive is to acknowledge the fact that we are not perfect ourselves. In the book of John, Chapter 8; the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Jesus a woman taken in the very act of adultery and wanted to stone her to death. In verse 7, “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And we know that there was not even a single one of them without sin. The same applies to us today.

Colossians 1 verse 12 says; ‘Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light’.  Isaiah 1 verse 18 says ‘Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

I was reading an article this morning, where someone said forgiveness is to let go. He described it as the release of the past, the hurt, the pain, the fear, the self image reflected in others. He said it is the opportunity to believe, to love, to trust. It is the realization of time. I agree with him totally.

When you are locked up in un-forgiveness, you lose the time that you should spend being happy because with un-forgiveness comes sadness and a burden. You do not only lose the opportunity to love but also to fellowship freely with the Father. Mathew 5 verse 22-24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Mathew 6 verse 14: For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

As deep as the pain or hurt we feel is, we have got to let go. I’ve learnt that true forgiveness brings healing and peace, the kind you will never want to let go of. Ephesians 4 verse 31 says; ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.