Hi guys! I hope everyone is having a blessed week! I wont be before you long, but something dropped in my Spirit today. Lets jump right in!!
So often, I hear people talk about FORGIVENESS. I am fully on board with forgiveness and Lord knows that I’ve had my share of situations where I had to forgive people and HELP people who hurt my heart in a way that can’t fully be articulated…..But it dawned on me, what if I was on the other side? Like what if I am the one who did the wrong doing and just decided not to apologize. Okay. Cool….But not apologizing could be causing more awkwardness and tension than necessary. And truth be told, it is causing that person to possibly hold on to something longer…..in a way it could be stalling forgiveness because of the hardness of another person’s heart.
So…true story….
Many years ago, I had a HEART BREAKING EXPERIENCE. I remember how mad I was and how betrayed I felt. I was so incredibly hurt to say the least. For a while I wouldn’t speak to that person and would flat out ignore them! Terrible, I know! BUT! Chile….I was just hurt. BUT! That person (sooner than later) wrote me a letter and took me out to dinner and was genuinely sorry. From that point on, I accepted the apology and the tension lifted and we never had another issue.
Now…..what if that person would have let the issue linger and not right the wrong? Yes, with prayer and time I would have gotten over it but how much longer would that situation, awkwardness and hurt have lingered?
The bottom line is this, we can help with someone forgive us if we are willing to own up to what we did wrong and sincerely apologize because lets keep 100! People and your heart knows when a person is genuine or not. Also, when we apologize to people, we have to stop saying, “I apologize for everything.” What is everything? We must pick up the phone and apologize and NOT APOLOGIZE via text!! Whew! LOL We have to stop doing that people of God.
At the end of day, regardless if someone else apologizes or not, we have to pray about and move on AND ultimately forgive them; this I know….Trust me! If there is someone you need to apologize to, call them tonight and own whatever the wrong was and be sincere…..and if you are on the opposite end of the situation, and you never receive an apology; its okay. I have learned to pray and PRAY FOR MYSELF AND FOR THAT PERSON. This is difficult to do but it must be done in order to move on with life.
Matthew 5:44 “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you.” (NLT)
Jesus is Love,
Chelsea