Welcome to Motivational Mondays!
First things first, what is Motivational Mondays? Just like it sounds, to motivate, to empower, and to encourage you on the first day of a fresh week. I don't know about you but Mondays can be a drag for me, so sometimes words of encouragement and positivity are helpful to start my day off right.
Motivational Mondays #10: Forgiveness Is Key: I didn't know just how important forgiveness was until I realized that the only way for me to move on with my life was to learn to forgive and let go.
So my mindset before was if you burn me once, I would be paying close attention to you now and my trust with you has decreased dramatically. Then if you burn me over and over again, I would hold that hurt against you so that I can mentally remember how you hurt me. That way it would not happen again. My problem was I could forgive you for some things but I would hold on to the other things that I couldn't forgive and then keep you at a distance because my trust for you is broken.
It took me years of soul searching and therapy to realize that way of thinking didn't work for me. Not entirely. When people, especially family would do me wrong or hurt my feelings I held them accountable; whether they knew it or not. I kept storing hurt and would walk around with it on me all day every day until I got to a place in my life where I had to do something before this stress killed me.
Forgiveness Is A Release!
In the book of Matthew, there's a great example of forgiveness. When you get a chance check out Matthew chapter 18 verse 21-35.
A Synopsis Of The Story:
Peter asked a question to Jesus saying, Jesus let me talk to you real quick, “How many times are we supposed to forgive others, because...listen.” (I’m paraphrasing y’all, this is how I interpreted this story in my head) Jesus responded saying, calm down, not seven times but seventy- seven times. Then he told a parable where a servant went to his master and pleaded and begged his master to bear with him and also be patient with him in paying back 10 thousand bags of Gold. The servant’s master showed pity on him and erased all his debt.
Now, this same servant went back home and ran into a man who owed him 100 Silver coins. The servant choked him and as punishment locked the man up, as other people watched in disbelief they ran to the servant's master and told him what they witnessed.
The Master ended up locking the servant for not showing forgiveness and compassion to his servant.
Jesus ended the parable by saying this is how our Lord God will treat you if you don't forgive people.
Don’t Be Like This Servent. Learn to forgive. It's not easy by any means, but it is necessary and pleasing to God when we do.
Do you struggle with forgiving others?
What keeps you holding on to past hurt?
When you forgive others, do you also Forgive yourself?
Here Are A Few Scriptures To Keep In Mind
“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” ... Matthew 6:12 – From the Lord's Prayer – “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Mark 11:25
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:31-32
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12
“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.”
Proverbs 17:9
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**I hope everyone has a safe and blessed week and I will see you all on Saturday for our Weekly Topic Saturdays**
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen.
Hi amore' thanks once again for commenting, and thank you for being transparent with your comments as well. It took me a long time to understand the meaning of forgiveness and why its essential to forgive. But the biggest part of forgiveness is not only forgiving others but forgiving yourself too. Whew! A mouthful i know! So I agree with you absolutely!! Be safe, Be Blessed, Be Golden!!
Hey Golden Fam,
I definitely agree with this post. It is so important to forgive others and not harbor any animosity or grudges against them. That is one thing that I am learning while on this journey of getting closer to god. To answer your questions:
For a while I did struggle with forgiving others especially when they were very close with me. I may say that I forgave them but I kept that hurt and that feeling that they caused me in the back of my mind. In the end I never really forgave them.
I think that for me what keeps me holding on to that past hurt to past hurt would be the resentment that I held…