She suffered with a type of cancer that could have been fatal. It wasn’t a disease that was attacking her body, but her marriage. She woke every morning surrounded by the weight of a heavy darkness that was coming from within her heart. She knew her marriage was dying. Like cancer, it was eating away at her very being. In despair, she would fall to her knees and beg God to take this from her. In those moments of complete surrender, He reminded her of the sacrifice He made for her, forgiving her of her sins, and that she was called to do the same.
Forgiveness is not an emotion and she certainly did not feel like giving it, but forgiveness is a command from God. It was something she could not do on her own, only by the power of the Holy Spirit. She realized that if she chose to nurse bitterness, it would shut down any healing that needed to occur in her marriage, and eventually would eat away at her from the inside out.
Forgiving brings peace and peace was just the medicine her marriage needed.
What grudge might you be holding on to that is not allowing peace and healing in your life?
But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. Mark 11:25 NLT
Prayer: Father God, help us to let go of a hurtful past and forgive others like you have forgiven us. Amen.
After a day of feeling very "bitter" towards my husband for all his "shortcomings", this was exactly what I needed to be reminded of. Thanks for this post!
ReplyDeleteNow, pardon me, I have a little forgiving to do.
:)