Sunday, March 15, 2009

I forgive you


I enjoyed church today for the first time in a long time. My family, Luke, and I visited Venture Christian Church today, and the pastor spoke on forgiveness. He had a way of getting the point across, and I remember almost everything he said. I was able to pay attention.

Being able to pay attention to a sermon and remember it may seem like very basic things, but its huge to me.

Like I said, he spoke on forgiveness, and there was this one point that really struck a chord in me. He said that when somebody wrongs him, he goes to God and forgives the person. Just between him and God. He talked about how unforgiveness breeds bitterness. So being able to forgive a person who has wronged you, simply by raising it to God and choosing to forgive, will allow you to keep living, free from burden. 

However, he doesn't go to the person to tell them they are forgiven until they say they are sorry. He said he will treat the person as though they are forgiven, but he will not tell them "I forgive you" until they apologize. So they are forgiven, but unless they ask for it, they don't get the benefit of receiving that forgiveness.

Someone hurt me big time, and they never apologized. I chose to forgive them, but it has always bugged me because I can't just tell them "I forgive you." Sometimes I feel like I should just call the person and say "I forgive you." Because I have forgiven them, I made that choice. I just have never felt like I could say "I forgive you" without them first saying that they are sorry.

I think Pastor Dave is right though. I can forgive (truly forgive someone) without receiving an apology and without telling them that they have been forgiven. And I don't have to go back for more. I don't have to ignore what happened and walk back into the same situation. 

I can forgive, and I can leave. 

I felt like I could breathe again this Sunday. I felt like I could listen to God again without being afraid of where he'll tell me to go or how he'll want me to be used. I'm not afraid of getting munched in the process of being used by God...imagine that.

-Bre

2 comments:

  1. That's a pretty cool picture there. :) Apparently I had an account set up from a past class I had. Though I'm not likely to blog much....but I can comment on yours.

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  2. it was so fabulous to see you this morning...i hope to see lots more of you at venture! :)

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