“Forgive others as quickly as you expect God to forgive you” Wow, as I read that, I myself had to take a deep breath. Forgiveness is not an easy thing, and in top of that, forgiving as quick as you expect God to forgive you, now that’s tough, but is it really? Forgiving is a very difficult and hard thing, but do we make it harder than it is? If you think about it, if someone did something that upset you, for example mocked you in front of people you love and care about, but I am sure that you have done that, or something along the lines of that before, I know I have. Instead of pointing the finger and hesitating to forgive, be like Jesus. You always
expect Jesus to forgive instantly, so why can’t we? Yes, it is definitely easier said, than done. But when you forgive you feel happier, you feel free. I think i know what you’re thinking, but wait, they are the ones who need forgiveness, shouldn’t they feel free after I forgive them? No, you both should feel free. Free to be friends again, free to love, free to forgive. Jesus forgives you, and you expect him to, so why is it so hard for us to forgive? I, myself am not perfect by any means, but I know for myself, when I forgive, I feel free, I feel happy, I feel like I can try to be like Jesus. Although we will never be like Jesus, no matter how hard we try. But, if we try and push to be like him, we can be the happiest, the most loving, and the most forgiving we can be. As I work on forgiving this week myself, I challenge you to forgive someone who haven’t forgiven, and in the future to be quick to forgive. Let’s look at what the bible has to say about forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 says “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” How amazing is that? Christ forgave us. No matter how many times we ask God for forgiveness, he giving it. We, as christians need to forgive, we need to be the bigger people (without thinking or acting like we are better then them) and forgive, even before they ask for forgiveness. I hope I challenged you, but also blessed you.
GOD BLESS,
OLIVIA HAGELE
