Proverbs 14 - Forgiveness

14:30 A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
Forgiveness. What a big word and task. Something each and every one of us needs to give in abundance. There is not one of us who have not been wronged or hurt at one time or another. There is not one of us who has not wronged or hurt another at one time or another. Christ told us that we will not be forgiven unless we forgive. I can speak from experience what it is like to hold a grudge, to not grant forgiveness. It tears you apart. I gives the other person power over you, and it ends up that your inability to forgive doesn't have the result you would like it to, but instead it has a grip on your life, and keeps you from moving forward. Forgiving others does not mean you forget. It does not mean that you trust that person again, it does not mean that you allow yourself to be put into the position to be hurt again by that person. What it means is that you relinquish the right to revenge, that you say "it's okay". You don't have to understand it, you just have to do it. God will help you to overcome, and maybe sometimes understand, but that is not what is important. Forgiveness frees you from the chains that bind you. I realized some several weeks ago that there were some people that I had never truly forgiven. Not from recent events but from 20+ years ago. Yes, I thought I had forgiven the parties, but I had not really confessed this forgiveness to God. When I did, there were some feelings that I did not know were there that surfaced and I was able to deal with them. Are there things in your past that you need to exhume? I have asked God to show me all. I want no unforgiven deeds in my life whether it be to me or against me.