It is easy to forgive when it costs nothing. It is not so easy when someone is coming at you, or when life turns against you for an extended period of time. When we are tempted to react.
Grace can be a gift in some situations but
in other circumstances every hurt comes hard.
Forgiveness against the tide inevitably is a learned practice. It doesn’t come easy. A forgiving heart that is found after overcoming the initial bitterness that hardens the heart is hard-won wisdom. Perhaps having found forgiveness easy, we are tested later in life by circumstances we cannot reconcile—at least for a very long time.
If we see life as a learning ground,
we endure the tough seasons better.
The tougher circumstances of life, once they have been endured, prove instructive for hearts committed to learning. Curiosity is a character trait to nurture.
DON’T FORGET THE MEANING OF LIFE
The meaning of life is wisdom, it is character solidity, it is purity of heart, and it is safety for others. It is service to others. The whole purpose of this life is stepping on the earth in such a way as to bless it and not curse it.
We have impact while we are here.
We bless. Or we curse.
There is no middle ground.
There is no good if we are Christian and we do not bless our world. What is the point ‘winning souls to Christ’ if our character is rubbish? If we are charismatic by nature and winsome, we might seduce some for a time, but the duplicity is a curse. All it does is reveal that our fruit is from a poisonous tree. Our ‘love’ is not from God.
The meaning of life is transcending
everything that would produce harm.
~
COUNTERINTUITIVE VICTORY
There is only one way to fight back against an injustice done to us. That way is to overcome it through forgiveness. It is counterintuitive. Counterintuitive victory.
A lot of the time we are infracted it is done by people who prod and poke and goad. Those who violate us rely on their frustrating us to evoke a reaction where we are seen as graceless, and they tend to get away with it every time.
To overcome temptation to react,
we must attain humility of heart.
The only way to overcome situations like this is to rise above the temptation to react, because those who would abuse us rely on us reacting. But it serves us little to just agree to do this. What is needed is a heart to SERVE. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. And because it serves such practical needs.
The power to NOT react is given to the person
who has forgiveness deep in their heart.
~
ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO DO MORE – FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
It is always to our benefit as we benefit others, even if in our benefitting others it doesn’t appear we are benefitting ourselves.
The fact is, blessing others through our deeds of kindness and grace, and in this case forgiveness, must become a habit. It must become our routine. It must become second nature—if not the behaviour, the commitment to do it again and again. To keep coming back to it.
And this is the reason why it is so important:
Going above and beyond for others
is personally empowering.
Going above and beyond
for others is good for them too.
Blessing and serving others works.
It has a good chance of being appreciated.
But the habit alone nurtures
forgiveness and a strong heart.
A commitment to service
inspires others and it motivates us.
Sustained commitments of service create resilience.
In our continual serving of others, we learn that we can do it. We learn powers of resilience. We learn to overcome our disappointment in receiving a lack of reciprocation, time and again. In our committing to serve others as our response to whatever happens, including the injustices that inevitably occur, we insist that we will be forgiving persons.
Forgiveness is the power of God
operationalised in a humble heart.
Nothing can defeat the person who forgives;
no injustice, no misfortune, nothing.
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