Forgive, then move on

"For you, if you lead your heart and extend your hands to God, if you remove the injustice of your hand and do not allow to remain the iniquity under your tents, then you will lift your forehead without stain, you will be firm and without fear, for you will forget your pain, you will remember it as water that has flowed." Job 11.13-16

As long as you can not detach your thoughts from someone you feel resentful for, that person has an ascendancy over you. You are worried about something that he or she has already forgotten.

"What you have experienced in the past matters less than the life that is opening before you."

Long before the advent of psychology, Job understood that inner healing followed three stages.

Put your heart in order. If you want to be emotionally cured of an injury, you have to let go - whether you want it or not. Do not try to avenge yourself. Forgive this person, then let go.

Ask God's help. Invite Christ to come into your life to fill you with his forgiveness. Why ? Because your human forgiveness will never be enough to deal with all the wounds of your life, not only those of the past, but all those to come.

Do you remember the story of Corrie Ten Boom ? She had hidden Jews in her apartment during the Second World War to protect them from the Nazis. When the Germans discovered it, they sent not only the Jews to a concentration camp, but also Corrie and her family. All of her family died except Corrie, who suffered torture and abuse. Later, she asked to meet the guards who had abused her, and she forgave them.

Human forgiveness is powerless to accomplish such a thing. It takes the supernatural power of God in a life to let go and be able to say : "It was very hard to bear, it was wrong, but I believe that God can bring out good from evil, and in a way, the best of my life is in front of me."

Open to the world again. When we are injured, we tend to get into our shell, build a wall of protection and decide never to let anyone come near. In fact, such an attitude only succeeds in hurting you. To let a past suffering define your identity is like driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror. You go right into the wall. We must face the future and start living again. What you have experienced in the past is less important than the life that is opening before you.

What painful memory do you refuse to let go - what word, action or opinion has hurt you ?

A prayer for today

"Lord, I want to put my heart in order, please remove this resentment from my life, I choose to forgive ___ Help me to open up to the world again Help me to focus on you in the future, replace my suffering with your peace, my wound with your healing, my bitterness with your love, in the name of Jesus, amen."

Rick Warren

Source (The Thought of the Day)