Pull Off the Bandaid: Forgiving Those Who Hurt You

Let’s pull that bandaid off this morning on one of my favorite topics and get the weekend started off right!“Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” Luke 6:27-28 Wow, this is a tough one...We are called to forgive those that hurt us, unconditionally. Because if it’s with condition, it’s not forgiveness. We need to pray for them and for God to bless them. Listen, I get what it feels like to be hurt, I think we all do. But if we are ever going to be able to grow into the person God wants us to be we need to let go and forgive. Don’t hold resentment. Resentment is like a cancer that will eat you alive day by day. It will leave you empty. Look, forgiving doesn’t mean you have to forget what someone has done, it means you GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO GET EVEN! Ok, so how do you do that? Stop keeping score! When you keep a record of wrong, you’re being unloving. But when you let it go and bless those who hurt you, then you’re letting God’s love work through you.I really believe one of the first and easiest ways to start living a more righteous life is to try to forgive, let by-gone’s be by-gone. Will you fail? Everyday! But we can try, everyday starts a new journey. Start today with forgiving yourself.Have a great weekend, we’ll talk Monday. Be Nice. Grace wins. Frank