Forgiveness establishes healthy boundaries of respect in our relationships, if mutual respect is not present because the other person has no intention or desire to respect our values and boundaries, than there may be no grounds for reconciliation in that relationship.
Forgiveness is not only a decision; it’s a process where both people involved work together creating something beautiful worth keeping. Communication respect and love are the foundation for forgiveness and when trust has been violated there are steps that need to be taken if we hope to save our relationship. This takes hard work, time and the effort of both people involved.
Genuine forgiveness is worth striving for regardless of whether there will be reconciliation in a relationship, or not. God designed us, his creation to live at peace to have contentment and experience love. Not to quarrel, fight or to be filled with anger and hostility. These things only create what is known as spiritual and emotional bondage. Why does God's word command that we forgive? This is because as human beings we have a sinful nature that creates distention and chaos. As people we desire to have things our way, and become easily offended by others, even when it's unmerited. God knows how much we struggle with this, and he demands that we practice forgiveness as a way of releasing us from the bondage take unforgiveness causes, so that he can establishing his peace in our lives. “And it's necessary.”
Forgiveness changes everything making it easier to forgive the next person, and there will be another situation where forgiveness will be necessary. It's easier to forgive someone when their expressing remorse, we tend to let our guard down. But if we wait for the other person to express remorse, and seek our forgiveness, than we miss the point of forgiveness. It always begins with us first. “And why?” Because it takes the better person to forgive. Freedom depends on us, not whether the one who has harmed us is remorseful. In most cases, this simply won't happen, so why do we want to remain in the bondage of unforgiveness with that person? Are they worth it? Do we want to remain in bondage with them?” Let it go, and find the peace that was lost in your life by trusting God to bring you something better.
Written by Hadassah Shirey
Picture originally found here
