Life HacksSample

Forgiving Others

People will hurt us. It’s part of life. We will let others down, and others will do the same to us. However, we can’t stay stuck in the hurt. We need to forgive. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that what the person did to us was okay because it’s never okay to hurt other people. Forgiveness means that you can let go of the situation and release the control that you’ve been holding onto. 

Jesus commanded us as his followers to forgive others. In Colossians 3:13, Paul said to the church, “Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” God forgives us again and again; he never holds what we do against us when we ask him to forgive us, and he calls us to be that same way. He tells us to forgive even when it’s hard and even when we don’t want to. 

Forgiveness also doesn’t mean that we have to go back into hurtful situations or stay around people who are constantly causing us pain. It just means that as we move on from people and situations, we are trusting God with our pain, emotions, and lives and not allowing the hurt to stand in the way of our relationship with Him. Our relationship with God is the most important relationship we have. If we refuse to forgive someone and disobey what God told us to do, it will cause our relationship with Him to suffer. Who do you need to forgive today? What steps toward forgiveness do you need to take to restore your relationship with God?

Challenge: Who is someone that you need to show forgiveness to right now? Start by praying for that person. Ask God for the strength to take steps toward extending forgiveness to them.