Proverbs 17:9

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.

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Reflective Thinking

Yesterday, from Proverbs 16:28, we learned that gossip is powerful enough to ruin the relationship of even the best of friends. Another powerful tool of the enemy to destroy close friendships is unforgiveness. When we choose to not forgive we are preventing love from growing the relationship and we are basically choosing to destroy the relationship. One thing I’ve observed over the years is that unforgiveness primarily hurts the person holding on to the offense and not the person who we would consider to be at fault. Holding unforgiveness in our hearts is like caring a backpack full of rocks and every time we remember the offense and choose not to forgive we put another rock in the backpack. It’s going to slow you down physically and mentally and over time create permanent scars on your heart and soul.

Action Idea

You can’t give away what you don’t have. If you don’t have love in your heart you can’t give it away. It’s possible, if you’re struggling with unforgiveness in your heart it’s because you don’t fully understand the power of forgiveness. And… to fully understand ultimate forgiveness… you need to be forgiven of your sins. Please listen, we all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Jesus died for all of that on the cross and through His love and grace, He offers total forgiveness of our sins… if we would only believe and receive His love and forgiveness. With that said, if you have received His unmerited love and forgiveness and are still struggling to forgive someone… (and I say this with love) you are simply acting stubborn, selfish and need make a mature decision and forgive… and keep on forgiving. This does not mean you forget or you don’t create boundaries. Use wisdom. Jesus teaches us this very clearly in the book of Matthew. You can do this.