FORGIVENESS.....

Forgiveness-(noun) 1.act of forgiving; state of being forgiven. 2.disposition or willingness to forgive.
                                      FORGIVENESS
Something that we all want, but so hard to give out. It's amazing to me how God displays his unlimited forgiveness. Not only does he forgive, but then in his word it say that, "...as far as the east is from the west, so far has HE removed our transgressions from us."-Ps.103:12 WOW!! How amazing is that? That he himself would no longer think about the things that we came to him in shame, guilt and fear and asked him to cover and help you to move on in Him. My mind cannot begin to fathom his infinite love that enables him to do that...........BUT He does & we are to forgive like that too. According to Ephesians 4:32 God tells us to, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." What really sticks out to me in this verse is the words 'in Christ'. It is only by Christ and through Him alone, we are able to fully forgive the way God has us to. When we forgive someone for the hurt they have cause we are to forgive and forget. Easier said than done, huh? But it is exactly what we are to do. And the only way to do that is with a changed heart only given my God. We are to then, think of them NO MORE! That is when the LOVE of Christ comes in, because love keeps no record of wrong according to 1Cor. 13:5.

Forgiveness is a hard trait to carry, but its is the most FREEING thing there is. When we make peace with God, he gives us a peaceful heart & a peace of mind which causes us to want to make peace with the ones who have hurt us and in some cases that we have hurt. Forgiveness  is not saying that what they did is right and then continuing to do that forever. It is about keeping your heart right with God and leaving the other person in God's hands. Forgiveness  is an essential discipline in a Christian's life; Matthew 6:15. Forgiveness does not mean that you have to allow the other person to continue to hurt you.

THE ONLY WAY WE ARE ABLE TO FORGIVE THE WAY GOD CALLS US TO FORGIVE IS TO STAY IN TUNE AND CLOSE TO THE ONE WHO IS ABLE TO FORGIVE US.  TRUTH IS CARRYING AROUND UN FORGIVENESS & BITTERNESS IS HARDER THAN FORGIVING. TO FORGIVE BRINGS FREEDOM. THERE IS SUCH AN AWESOME RELEASE WHEN WE CHOOSE TO FORGIVE, AND WE ARE ABLE TO HOLD TIGHT TO THE FUTURE AND WHAT IT HOLDS.

To me the BEST display of forgiveness comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."