Receive God's Forgiveness Today!

If you're bent on holding grudges, you may become so wrapped up in past wrongs that you can't enjoy the present. You may feel helpless, or like life is meaningless. You could jeopardize future relationships. "If you don't get past some of the wounds of the past, you tend to bring them into everything else you pursue," says psychotherapist Frank Luskin, director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good.

Psychologist Robert Enright, author of The Forgiving Life, has taught forgiveness in a variety of settings, and next year he'll do so in Liberia in the wake of a 14-year civil war. "Every human being on the planet has been injured by another's injustice, and how we respond to that can make all the difference," he says. Dwelling on negative emotions makes it more likely to displace pent-up anger, lashing out on a friend or family member. "Forgiveness helps quiet anger so it doesn't spill over onto innocent others," Enright says.

Still, no one ever said forgiveness was easy. It's a difficult process, Enright says, one that "takes serious hard work over months" or even a year. The first step is understanding what forgiveness is: a decision to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge, and perhaps even reaching a place of understanding, empathy, and compassion. It's not reconciling. And it's not forgetting—in fact, "it's important to remember what hurt you so you can avoid it in the future," Howes says. Forgiveness also doesn't justify or excuse what the other person did. Rather, it helps achieve a sense of peace.  -U. S. News and World Report, August 29, 2012, Angela Haupt

Forgiving others is sometimes very hard, but it is essential if you want to break out of the bondage that it's brought you under. Forgiving others opens you up for the Lord to begin healing your soul (inner healing). Since unforgiveness blocks us from receiving God's forgiveness of our sins (Matthew 6:15), it puts up a wall between us and the source of our healing.

Wounds can fester into infections if left untreated. That's exactly how unforgiveness works. Whatever was done to us pierced our skin, but if we keep prying it open and looking at the wound, it won't be able to heal... instead, because it is continually exposed to the dirty air, it becomes infected.

If you have a hard time forgiving others, it's because the love of Christ isn't flowing through you. How do you solve this problem? Start working on your relationship with your heavenly Father so you can come to know of His great love for you, and then your spirit will respond and His love will begin to flow through you naturally. When that begins to happen, forgiving those who have wronged you will become much easier.

It is nearly impossible for somebody who is flowing in the love of God to hold bitterness (a form of hate) inside. If you struggle with bitterness, it's because you lack the love of Christ in your life. You need to become grounded and rooted in the love of Christ, if you want His love to flow through you. Seek out a living relationship with Him and seek to learn of His deep love for you... it will change your life!

Related Scripture verses: John 10:11, 15:13; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Romans 2:4; 1 John 3:1; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9; John 14:23; John 13:34; Luke 11:9-10; James 4:8

Prayer: "Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless.

I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus forgive me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend.

I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ." Amen.

Have a blessed day!

LeeAnn