Anger makes us smaller, while forgiveness forces us to grow beyond what we were. Forgiveness means letting go of a hurtful situation and moving on with our own happiness and it takes faith to do that. Here are some thoughts derived from a forwarded email.

Forgiveness takes faith in many ways. It takes faith to believe God’s Word and forgive, rather than clinging to our anger and bitterness. 

It takes faith to believe that peace will eventually come to our troubled heart and soul after we forgive. And it takes faith that forgiveness alone can change the situation‚ and that even if it doesn't, we'll forgive anyway.

We can forgive even if we wait for changes that are needed. Jesus didn't wait for the resurrection to forgive the Roman soldiers who killed Him.

Forgiveness is not a compromise with evil. It is seeing past the faults and wrongs of the moment; it is believing God for what we cannot see yet, it is having faith. And the reward of faith is seeing what we have believed in, in His time.

Satan hates forgiveness reflected in God’s children. It defeats everything Satan stands for. It transforms failure into hope, and faults into beauty and power.

When we forgive others for their sins, the Devil can't condemn them either. When we accept God’s forgiveness for our sins, we refuse to accept the condemnation of the Devil.

Without grains of gritty, irritating sand,  there would be no pearls of great price. The next time we feel those gritty faults and failings of others rubbing us the wrong way, let us rejoice for the pearls they will eventually become in our own life, as we coat those irritations with truth‚ love, forgiveness, and faith.

When we forgive, it does not mean we are accepting the wrongs of this world. It means we're believing in God’s power to overcome them.

         

It doesn't take strength to hold a grudge; it takes strength to let go of one.--Jesse (John Stamos),

 

 

Tim