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Resentment is a normal response to the
injustices of life. The problem is that resentment makes me sick. It
takes a bad situation and makes it worse.
Forgiveness is the cure for resentment. When I forgive others for the
wrong things they have done, the ugly lump of resentment melts away, and
instantly I am free.
When I feel angry and resentful, I will act as if I am a forgiving
person. When someone is rude and unpleasant, I will act as if I am a
forgiving person. When someone says bad things about me, I will act as
if I am a forgiving person. When someone does bad things to me, I will
act as if I am a forgiving person. No matter what happens, I will fill
the cup of forgiveness until it overflows.
Living as if I am a forgiving person is the only way I will ever become
one. I must practice forgiveness until it actually happens. Practice
doesn’t make me perfect, but it does make me more forgiving. I will
live as if I am a forgiving person. I will practice forgiveness each
day of my life.
Copyright © 2013
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There is a universal need to be forgiven for the wrong things you have done.
But until you forgive others, you will not find forgiveness for yourself.
It's that simple. God made the moral universe work in that fashion in
order to force you to forgive other people. If He had not done it that
way, you would try to get forgiveness from God without passing it on to
others. You would be left with a heart full of resentment, and
forgiveness would have done only half its job. God didn't want
forgiveness to go only half way. He said it must go all the way or not
at all.
Many people engage in a spiritual delusion trying to get forgiveness from
God while they harbor resentment toward others. This never works,
because God's forgiveness cannot do its cleansing work until you forgive the
people who have done wrong to you. God will never let you do an end
run around the resentment that you have in your heart and mind.
For you to feel the full impact of the forgiveness that comes from God, you
must forgive other people first. The big lump of resentment that
you hold toward others blocks the forgiveness that comes from God.
It's
not that God is unwilling to forgive. God's forgiveness is always
there in principle, but it's not there in practice until you forgive others
for the mistakes they have made. In the world of forgiveness, what
goes around comes around. If you want to have God's forgiveness roll
through your life, you must send forgiveness to everyone else first.
God will unleash the power of his forgiveness the instant you forgive
everyone who has done you wrong.
If you can't forgive other people, you will block the forgiveness that comes
from God, and you will never be free from the thousand armed octopus of
resentment that has a grip on your heart and mind.
If your heart is hard, and you carry heavy burdens, there is only one way to
lift the load. Every ounce of forgiveness you dispense to others lifts
a ton off the burden that you must bear. Others don't need forgiveness
nearly as much as you need it yourself.
As the years pass, you accumulate a mountain of trash and toxic waste in
your mind. Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. If you
let them accumulate for a lifetime, your burden becomes unbearable.
When you forgive your enemies, your burdens instantly disappear.
Forgiveness is better than magic, because it's not a trick. It's the
real thing. It does everything it's advertised to do. It sends
the octopus of sin and resentment packing and frees your heart and mind.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Free at last, free at last, thank God
Almighty, I'm free at last." The forgiveness you send to others make
you free at last.
When you look at people who have carried burdens of resentment and blame for
fifty years, you see the price they pay for ignoring this law. They
grow into bitter and hardhearted people. They aren't rugged
individualists with a smile on their face. They are worn out and
broken down from carrying unnecessary burdens.
There isn't enough room in your heart for both resentment and God's
forgiveness. It's one or the other, and you decide which it will be.
Forgiveness is a package deal. If you don't forgive others, then
resentment will block the healing power of God's love and forgiveness in
your own heart.
It's impossible to have fellowship with God when your heart is full of
resentment. If you want to have a strong relationship with God, let
forgiveness reign supreme. Unleash the power of God's forgiveness by
sending love to everyone.
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