Scripture Thursday ~ Forgiveness

But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Matthew 5:44 (KJV)

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I was in my 20’s when my mother brought this verse to my attention.  I was struggling with the emotional turmoil of an older woman that hated me.  She hated me due to lies she believed about me.  It was at that time I learned a hard lesson about forgiveness, and praying for people that had wronged me. 

This woman didn’t ask me to forgive her and she was never remorseful for the hurtful things she said to me, but I chose to forgive and to pray for her.  In turn, it released me from bitterness taking root.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,
be put away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32 (KJV)

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There is a young woman in my life that is very dear to me.  I’ve known her since she was 4 years old and she is now 15.  She has this to say about forgiveness: 
Something I have noticed with forgiveness is, I end up needing to forgive someone more than once.  I will say I forgive someone, but do I really?  Sometimes I will still be bitter towards them and I know I haven’t completely forgiven them.  I wish I could forgive the way Jesus does.  It would be nice to forgive and forget.

Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another,
if anyone has a complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3:13 (NKJV)

When we harbor resentment and hatred in our hearts, we’re hurting ourselves and those that love us.  Healing can’t begin until you reach a point of forgiveness.  In 1999 Craig Scott was in the library of his high school – Columbine, when two shooters massacred his close friends and classmates in front of him.

He didn’t know until the next day that his sister Rachel Scott had been one of the first students killed in the cafeteria.  He tells how hatred and bitterness took root and consumed him.  A mentor shared some life changing words with him.

Forgiveness is like setting a prisoner free and finding out that prisoner was you.  

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Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Luke 6:28 (KJV)I’ll close with a very moving video of a dear woman of God, Corrie Ten Boom.  As a Holocaust survivor, Corrie endured horrific circumstances while in the concentration camps.  She tells in her own words, a situation where she came face to face with one she did not have the human strength to forgive. 

He extended his hand to her and asked forgiveness.  Listen to what she did when faced with this difficult situation.   If you don’t have time to watch it now, please come back to it.  It’s about 7 minutes long and well worth it.

Thank you so much for visiting today.  I hope and pray if bitterness and resentment has taken root in your heart, that you’ll consider the scriptures and seek the Lord’s help in forgiving.

This post is linked to: Word Art Wednesday, Titus2uesdays, Women in the Word Wednesdays, Hearts 4 Home Thursday, Monday Musings, Deep Roots at Home,