I have been hurt deeply in my life by people who I am suppose to trust the most. Because we are all human and imperfect we will likely all be hurt by people who are close to us. At times I have let the anger and bitterness almost consume me, thinking they have no idea the deep anguish they have caused me. I have felt that if I let go of it, it is like letting them off the hook. So I hold on and suffer.
As i've wrestled with how to forgive I realized that the only way I can forgive is because of Christ. Because of him it will be ok. He was hurt the most. Infinitely more then we can even comprehend. Yet, "he went about doing good". He said "Love your enemies" If Christ can focus on LOVE, even though he was hurt so profoundly I can too. I can lay my burden at his feet and focus on love.
If I focus on the wound it will only make it worse, kind of like when you pick at a scab and it only gets worse. What heals a wound is applying ointment and a bandage and leaving it alone. The ointment is forgiveness. And Christ wants me to forgive so that bitterness and anger doesn't destroy my heart.
It still might hurt, but I can love anyway. I can love and forgive because of Christ. Christ hurt, he was acquainted with grief and sorrow and every kind of deep anguish we can imagine but he loved anyways. Not because of who other people were but because of who he is.
I've realized that when people hurt you they are usually spiritually sick themselves, and it has nothing to do with you. What they need is love.
Sometimes I try to carry burdens that are not mine to carry. So Christ says, put it down and don't pick it up again. Leave it alone, it's not yours.
I'm still working on it, it's a process but I hope to be a really good forgiver some day. And I don't know what other people are going to be doing, but I am going to be loving.
No comments:
Post a Comment