Unforgiveness

As I was having my quiet time this morning I asked God, what should I talk about in my next blog? And He told me to talk about unforgiveness. At first I was like are you sure God, why unforgiveness? Then He started to reveal to me some unresolved issues in my heart. And then I was like ok, ok... I get it… Lol ( Be mindful when you ask God for an answer He might give you one you weren’t expecting). For some of you this might be a topic you don’t like or you don’t like to hear about because you either feel like you aren’t the one who should apologize or you feel like the other person doesn’t deserve your forgiveness. And I can understand why this topic steps on a lot of toes because it was a problem for me too. I used to say I forgave (whoever), but deep down I truly didn’t mean it. I was so hurt, hurt by people who I was close to, friends, family, people in the church, people who I trusted. I was hurt physically and emotionally and because of what they did I couldn’t find it in me to forgive them so I kept it all inside. And little did I know that throughout the years that that unforgiveness turned into bitterness which turned into anger and it caused my heart to be hardened and it stopped me from allowing God’s love to flow through me, I wasn’t able to love people the way God wanted me to and instead of letting it go I held onto it and allowed it to hinder my walk with Christ and because of that He couldn’t use me the way He wanted to with my heart all messed up. But as soon as I forgave and let it all go He was able to move and work freely through me. I really like this quote so i thought I should share it because it goes perfectly with what i'm talking about, “It is critical for us to realize how bitterness and unforgiveness can break our connectedness to God and cripple our spiritual life and ministry.” Unforgiveness disconnects us from God, that’s why forgiveness is so important in our Christian walk, we must forgive as God forgave us. In Colossians 3:13-14 says: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Forgiveness is freedom, as I begin to forgive and hand all my hurts over to God and let Him take control, I felt such a relief.  I don’t know why God had me write this but I hope that if any of you reading this is dealing with unforgiveness that you’ll take it to God ask Him to help you forgive so and so, I don’t know what might have happened to you or your situation but God does and I encourage you to let it go, don't give power to the enemy by allowing him to keep you trapped in your pain. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing. Maybe you need to forgive yourself, your parent(s), a friend, a sibling, or relative, etc… do it and let God begin to heal those hurts and deal with those people that's His job . Don’t stay a prisoner to that person set yourself free, free to be used by God and to show his love that has forgiven you! In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” I don’t know about you guys but I don’t want to imagine all the stuff that God can hold against me and choose not forgive me because I couldn’t forgive someone else. That’s a place where I don’t want to be in and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be in that place either. Matthew 18:21-22 says: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” So no matter how many times someone has hurt you God wants you to forgive them each time... There are several other bible verses that talk about forgiveness but these are the few that God put on my heart to share. My prayer for you is that if this was meant for you that you’ll forgive those people who have hurt you and allow God to start the healing process in your life today so that you can be free and He can move in you the way He wants to. I’m not going to lie, it’s not going to be easy but by God’s grace and mercy you’ll get through it. Trust Him!

Love you all,

Joy <3