Life Is More Peaceful When You Forgive.

 

Have you ever kept dwelling on the things that people have done to you? It doesn't matter if it happened 5 or 10 years ago....you just can't let it go. You still think about it and still get a little angry over it. I have been doing that. I had a list, yes, a list in my mind of 6 people I needed to forgive in my life. That shouldn't happen. We shouldn't put it off to forgive them some other time. Don't get me wrong. It does take time to forgive people. But when a list starts to form, that is a problem. So let me tell you what I did to let these things go. First: I wrote down the name of the person I needed to forgive. And what they did that hurt me. Next: I prayed and asked God to help me forgive them and let it go. I talked to him about each one and vented as to why I kept holding on to it. I even admitted to God that it would have been less hurtful had I put more trust in him for certain situations. I did all of this for each person. I took each slip of paper with the person's name on it, and after I had talked to God and felt ready to let it go.....I put it in the paper shredder. Yes... you can laugh. How dramatic. But hey. Those negative feelings I have towards those people are GONE. The more you hold on to things, the more they get in the way. The more they continue to resurface. Sometimes, God can't bless us the way he wants because there is something in the way...preventing us from receiving that blessing. Looking back on my life, I remember times when God has given me instructions on what he wanted me to do. But you know what. I usually only heard step 1 because there was something in the way that kept me from hearing step 2. I don't want to miss out on the blessings God has for me!!! Especially if it's because I don't forgive others!! We need to give people some slack.....and I feel like a total hypocrite for saying that. Because I sure haven't done it. We are all born sinners. We either know better, or we don't know better. We all fail. Forgive Forgive Forgive. What a RELIEF it is to let things go. Life is more peaceful this way.