I can forgive all day but it is the forgetting part ...
"And blessed is the one who is not offended by me..." Matthew 11:6
The word "offended" was greatly apart of my everyday vocabulary until having a revelation of God's point of view. So easily we allow others opinions or the way others treat us define how the rest of our day goes or even our attitude towards others. This is a tool of the enemy to absolutely rob your life in every way. When we are offended we typically become bitter towards anyone who associates with that person and really only hurting ourselves.
The bottom line in getting offended and upset with someone or saying harsh words comes from that individual not knowing their identity and who they are. If you take offense from something someone said that is also you forgetting who you are in that moment and allowing that to rule you emotions. Instead, when they don't love us why don't we love them back and having an understanding that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. As bad as we want to! Haha! Love is not a feeling, love is in fact a choice and so is forgiveness; just as God chose to forgive you at the cross. If you feel despitefully used, bless and pray for them. Not for them but for your benefit. I know what you are thinking,
"Elizabeth, I can forgive all day but it is the forgetting part that keeps coming up."
That is where we rely on the grace of God to help us to forget by teaching us how to love that person unconditionally, regardless of the hurt they have caused in our life. Forgiving them does not excuse what happened, it just means you are trusting God. Because, it is when we do not provide prayer and when we do not allow grace to the situation, that it causes destruction in our lives, our health and our relationships.
So today, my friend, as offense tries to rise up in your heart towards someone remember this analogy. You are walking through a graveyard and you see that there are obviously dead people around, try and talk bad to them and hurt them. You can't, because they are dead to their flesh! That is exactly how we should be. God loves you and wants you to live abundantly starting today!
