Forgiveness Update

Alright, it is not going to be easy, and I know I need to do it. Something in my Bible hit me tonight and I am going to try hard to do this. It would give me a whole new outlook on life. I hope I can let it go a bit and live this way. With the risk of being snubbed for copyrighting, I am going to share what was in my Bible on forgiveness.

The first verse is in Ephesians 4:32

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

"Here is an exercise: Each morning when you wake up, check the fertile soil
of your heart to see if any bitter seed has taken root. That friends who
betrayed you, the boss who berated you, the husband who barely understands
you-bitter seeds will take root in every garden. Weeds are like that.

"Next do this: For every bitter root that's come up, apply the greatest
killer of all-forgiveness. To forgive is to cultivate a garden God will
delight
in, one filled with the flowers of kindness and tenderness." (Taken
from the Women of Faith Bible, Page 1455, Forgiveness Day 27.)

This was an eye opening verse for me. I know I can't do it alone, but I sure am going to try with help. It has been very hard to put that hurt and anger away. Now, it is fear. Fear of what will or more of fear of what can or may happen. This is all due to unforgiveness. It may never go away, but I do not want this fear dominating my life. I want to live life to the fullest and know that I was able to live up to my full potential.

Here is the second quote, again taken from the Women of Faith Bible, Forgiveness Day Day 30, Page 1472. (See I give credit, where credit is due.)

Colossians 3:12-13
As the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender
mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.

"Evie was moving and I helped her clean the apartment. Unfortunately
her roommate had applied corkboard to the wall using the wrong adhesive and it
was impossible to remove. We picked, scraped, and scratched for hours.

"Well into the process, I said, "You'd probably like to kill Janet about
now." Evie replied, "No, not at all. After all Jesus has forgiven me, this
is nothing."

"Well, I knew that. Something about the way she said it though, I've
never forgotten. It's easier to forgive others when we put it in the context of
what God's given us."

Again, this struck a cord with me. I mean, how can we live our life with unforgiveness with an outlook like that. Wouldn't we all be a little easier to live with if we though that way. I am going to try. I will laminate these (I photocopied them) and keep them with me at all times. It is not going to be easy, but who said that everything was supposed to be easy when you have God. It just means we are forgiven, right? I am going to try and keep this new outlook on life. I know there is more than just me struggling with this in the world today, so I hope this can help someone else as well. It was just what I needed today. God bless you all and I will try to keep my chin up. I am learning so much in God's Word.