So, today I thought about I'd post about something that is super close to my heart since God has been doing some major work in my life through it here recently.

And that is.... forgiveness.

The first thing I want to say is that forgiveness is a lifestyle, not a one time action. It's a change of heart and mind, not a fluctuation of feeling one day.

When we truly forgive, we set ourselves free.

When we truly forgive, we are literally being the hands and feet of Jesus. It feels weird because culture and society, especially today, says "No. They hurt you. Are you crazy?"

Thing is, we hurt Jesus deeply repeatedly, unintentionally or intentionally. Yet, He forgives the same each time. Why should we not, as Christians, do the same for all the people in our life?

We are supposed to be a mirror for Jesus.

We are supposed to reflect Him and point others and ourselves back to Him in everything we do.

True forgiveness is forgiving without the other person saying or doing anything at all and then forgetting everything that happened.

It's being able to look them in the eye and not feeling the hurt and pain that once was there, but instead feeling nothing but wanting the best for that person without having to have any sort of relationship with that person.

I also want to say that when I'm talking about forgiveness that I'm also talking about you forgiving yourself. Forgiving yourself, from my experience, is a critical first step to forgiving others.

I want to emphasize that forgiving and forgetting does not mean that you cannot learn from what happened still. This was something I struggled with, mainly when it came to forgiving myself. I felt like if I didn't hold onto that last little bit of control... that last little bit of resentment toward myself... that I would end up returning to that behavior.

And that's when my friend reminded me of the beauty of Jesus.

I told her that, and she smiled and shook her head: "Why could you not ask for forgiveness again?"

A few months later and other situations coming my way where I could have easily repeated that behavior, I find myself not repeating it because I have learned.

I think learning takes reflection.

There were many nights when I would sat with just my journal and Jesus, reflecting over everything that had happened. And I found that the closer I grew to Jesus and the more time I spent with Him, all I would hear was, "It's okay. There is nothing you could ever do that would make me love you any less. Now, please. Forgive yourself."

Forgiveness is amazing. I went from hating and being so angry toward this person to seeing myself crying on kitchen floor every time I saw or thought about them to being able to enjoy being in their presence again.

It was just as critical for me to forgive myself as it was to forgive the person that had hurt me. I definitely feel and whole heartedly believe we are our own worst enemy.

So, what do you say? Is there something God is wanting you to forgive yourself or someone else for? If  you want to leave a comment, feel free. If you don't, that's fine at the same time because this is between you and God first and foremost.

Happy Sunday!