I recently woke up at 3:30 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I began to pray, and as I did, the Holy Spirit showed me I was holding on to unforgiveness towards some people. I was somewhat surprised by this since I help people with this issue in counseling almost weekly, wrote an entire chapter in my book about this, and tried to keep my forgiveness up to date. Nonetheless, it was clear I needed to forgive these people. Yet, none of them deserved it because they had not come to me admitting they had wronged me!
Then, in prayer, I forgave each person that came to mind. This took about twenty to thirty minutes. I told my Heavenly Father everything I was offended by that each person had done and how I felt about it. Some of the feelings I shared with Him were the following: hurt, angry, rejected, unloved, and unappreciated. Then, I concluded the forgiveness by telling the Lord that I forgave each person, i.e., I released them from the debt I thought they owed me.
Interestingly, I experienced such a deep peace when I had completed my forgiveness that I soon fell into a deep sleep.
How about you? Do you have people or groups who often come to mind who have wronged you in some way? Do any of them seem to you that they don’t deserve to be forgiven? I understand, and so does God. Yet, He reminds us in Ephesians 4:32 that Jesus died to forgive us when we didn’t deserve it. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We can forgive those who don’t deserve it because our Father forgave us in Christ when we didn’t deserve it!
Why don’t you sit down with God and ask him if there is anyone you need to forgive and why? Then talk to him and tell him everything about it, including how you feel about each wrong and that you forgive each person because He forgave you. Finally, you can affirm in prayer that forgiveness means you have released that person from what they owed you.
You may not “feel” like forgiving some people because they have caused you incredible pain. However, you have the Holy Spirit in you, so you CAN CHOOSE by faith to forgive. If you do, you will be amazed at how free your heart will feel! If you need help, don’t hesitate to contact us for counseling; we will gladly help.
