mrwil65
Active member
For many years, I've hurt people. Not physically, but emotionally. Now that I'm in my 50's I realize that I needed to learn to "SHUT UP!" The people I've hurt throughout the years, have done a lot for me - i.e. invite me to their homes, be a family to their families, bought items I've needed for the Apts I've lived in through the years. However, in that amount of time, I've just never thanked them through a sincere warm way of showing it. After studying Gods Word daily, going through meditations, praying, etc., I've found out the hard way that I could hurt the people that I love & who love me. Finally, after opening my eyes wide enough to see the light, I turned to the Bible in John 20:22-23 "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." I believe the number one rule in forgiving sins is to do as Jesus commanded in John 20:22 and receive the Holy Spirit, Who provides the strength and ability to forgive. None of us can do that on our own. I believe that when Jesus breathed on the disciples and they received the Holy Spirit, they were born again, at that very moment. The next thing He said to them was whatever sins they forgave were forgiven and whatever sins they retained were retained (see John 20:23). The forgiving of sins seems to be the first power conferred upon people when they are born again. If that is so, then the forgiving of sins is our first duty as believers. But although we have the power to forgive sins, it is not always easy to do it. Whenever someone does something to me and I need to forgive that person for it, I pray. "Holy Spirit, breathe on me and give me the strength to forgive this person." I do that because my emotions are screaming inside of me, "You have hurt me-and that is not fair!" At that point I have to remember to let go and allow the God of justice to work out everything. I have to remind myself that my job is to pray: His job is to be my Vindicator. When we trust God He always makes wrong things right at the appropriate time. When someone does something hurtful to us, we go to the Lord and receive from Him the strength to place our will on the altar and say, "Lord, I forgive this person I loose him; I let him go." Once we have done that, we let it drop. We don't need think or talk about it anymore. You may have said something to someone you would regret later. There are many friends I've said hurtful things to. I've said hurtful things to my wife Dorothy and never apologized. When I think of it now, it's really hard to say I'm sorry to her since she's passed away. I know I've said a lot of hurtful things to many people in my lifetime. And I may never get a chance to see them again. How about you? Have you found it in your heart to forgive the ones you hurt? If so, wrap your arms around that person, hug their neck, invite them in your live(s) again, and go back to where you left off when you became friends from the start.