Forgiving The Unthinkable - Repairing The Breach - aifc

When tragedy strikes, we can find ourselves getting angry with God asking, “Why did this have to happen to me?”  However, even in those most difficult times when we are angry we are called to be faithful as the bible tells us that even in our anger we are not to sin. “In your anger do not sin.” Eph. 4:26

Forgiveness is key to maintaining unity in relationships with a commitment to loving one another.  People will say and do things that will irritate, hurt and offend us.  These things often make us incredibly angry with ourselves, with others and with God. What we do or don’t do at this point will directly impact on our ability to keep our inner peace.

Forgiveness is trusting God to take care of our injustices with His justice

We can’t control what has happened to us. Trusting in God is choosing how we deal with situations in the present.  However before we can forgive we really need to understand that forgiving someone doesn’t mean they get away with it or that we have to have those people in our lives.  Forgiving doesn’t mean trusting a person or stepping back into a relationship with them.  Trust & Forgiveness are entirely two separate topics.  We we are ultimately responsible for maintaining our own peace.  This is one of the ‘good works’ we are meant to carry out as Christians by letting our light shine before all men.  Matthew 5:16View Post

Disunity in the work place, church and in the family

Unforgiveness can lead to all sorts of never ending strife and disunity.  Disunity has caused many marriages to fall apart only to end up in divorce.  There are many personalities that come together in one place, under one roof in the church, keeping pastoral care teams busy counselling others and sorting out issues between people. The church family needs to lead the way demonstrating God’s love by practicing forgiveness with one another.

Repairing The Breach

The pattern in history shows that after destruction strikes and In times of tragedy there is justified anger accompanied by sorrow.  But there is also a time to recover and rebuild.  In the bible, Isaiah referred to the success of those who rebuild when their efforts are combined with faith and righteousness.  Isaiah 58:12.

It’s certainly not easy to forgive major offences. Love is a choice and even if we don’t know how to forgive, we can certainly ask God for help. Choosing to forgive is choosing love above hatred, and forgiving others is liberating ourselves from the chains of bitterness robbing us of our peace.

It might help to see others how God sees them.  We are all flawed and live in a fallen world.  Yet God gave his only son to die for all of us.  John 3:16.

Christians who want to forgive but we can’t get started might find it helpful to talk to their church leaders & spend time reading your bible and in prayer. The principal of forgiveness is not just for Christians but for everyone.

Forgiving those who wronged us in the most horrible ways takes a lot of willpower and can be an extremely difficult thing to do.  When we hold onto God in obedience by choosing love over hatred and by opting to forgive regardless of our circumstances, the effort is no longer a natural one but supernatural.  In the video below, Ellen Rutledge shares how she made the choice to forgive the most horrible crime a mother could ever experience.

Ted Talk –  Ellen Rutledge found freedom in forgiving her son’s killers


Sources:

www.biblegateway.com.au

Forgiveness The cure for Bitterness

www.ted.com

 

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