The Importance of Forgiveness

Being able to say I'm sorry and actually forgiving those who have wronged us can be quite challenging at times.  If we'd see past the hurt, we'd be more understanding and realize we've all been on the receiving and the giving end of being hurt. Being understanding that we're all human and are all capable of making a mistake, 
being selfish, cruel and inconsiderate will happen.  We have to remember Colossians 3:13 which says, Make allowance for each other’s faults, and quickly forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  

Ephesians 4:30-32, says And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. rid yourself of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Holding onto bitterness for others creates havoc and corruption in our lives. (Hebrews 12:15)  

Unforgiveness breeds bitterness which poisons our heart towards our trespasser and it poisons our heart against God. Unforgiveness is the sin hat destroys relationships. We may hold back from forgiving because of a false sense of being in control and returning the hurt that was done unto us, but in reality we are really only alienating ourselves and blocking ourselves from receiving God's forgiveness, His consoling us and His love.

We need to always remember that life is a process of living, learning, meeting new people, making decisions, making mistakes, being remorseful, growing, asking forgiveness, adjusting our plans and continuing on our journey of life.  What makes this message a bite more difficult is, what if the trespasser doesn't even ask forgiveness. Prepare your heart to forgive anyway.  I've heard many times that forgiveness is for you to release the hurt you're feeling.  So forgiveness is a spiritual cleansing of the offense, like you hitting the reset button for restoration in your relationship with that person or to hit the reset button to walk away and be free of this person, free of animosity and free of ill will, like separating on good terms.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. We need to take stock of who are friends are and pray for discernment that this is a Godly friendship, partnership or relationship. Some of the hardships we find ourselves in with others, could be a message from God to detach from this person, because they're bringing such chaos into your life.  A valuable friendship is one where there's an exchange of giving encouragement to do good, correction, spiritual insight and challenging to grow not only in our faith, but to nurture maturity in life in general.