20 Comments

    • melissa

      The times that it is harder seems to be times that we are more emotionally invested or more emotional in the moment. Thank you for reading and commenting! God bless!

  1. The bitterness is hard. Pray that I continue to work on the bitterness. I am at the point where I dearly love someone and even have empathy and understanding for why they do the things they do. But the bitterness lingers. I am so sorry. “Dear God, I am so sorry that I hold onto the bitterness.Amen”

    • melissa

      Dear Lacy, Thank you for sharing your vulnerabilities. Bitterness is so difficult. Let God heal your pain. Write down each area that has lead to the bitterness (it may be a long list) and release it to God. He doesn’t want us to told it. He doesn’t want us to harbor ill feelings. “Heavenly Father, You are so loving to all of your children. Show Lacy the way to release her pain to You so that she can know Your love more fully and in turn love and forgive others in return. Amen”

  2. Kristi

    True forgiveness takes Christ working through us. I don’t think we can do it on our own especially when the hurt is deep.

    • melissa

      Absolutely! So often we are not strong enough on our own. We’re not supposed to be. We need Christ’s love, power, and strength to let go. Thank you for reading and commenting! God bless!

    • melissa

      I’ve heard that analogy, too. It’s a powerful illustration and quite accurate. Thank you for stopping by and commenting! God bless!

  3. Melissa- I believe this, “Forgiving others frees us from our past wounds.” I think my anxiety has stemmed from unforgiveness from my childhood. Over the last few years, I’ve been working through my past and my anxiety has gone from present every day to non-existent most days now.

    • melissa

      Hallelujah! Praise God that you were able to realize the lack of forgiveness that was still in your heart. It can have such negative residual effects on our mental health and sometimes physical health as well. Thank you for reading and commenting! God bless!

  4. Forgiveness is hard, but so worth it! The blessings we receive when we forgive, the freedom from bitterness, freedom to love, freedom to worship unhindered – all so worth it!

    • melissa

      It is so worth it! My heart is saddened for people who aren’t able to let go. They are missing out on so much love and joy! Thank you for reading and commenting! God bless!

  5. “Forgiving others doesn’t mean we approve of or condone the behavior or situation that took place. It just means we’re not going to let the situation hold us hostage any longer.” I love that!

    • melissa

      Thank you Susan! I work with far too many people who allow others to continue to control them far after whatever situation transpired. It only hurt them. Thank you for reading and commenting! God bless!

  6. This is such an important topic, Melissa, and one that is near and dear to my heart. I love how you’ve said that forgiving is recognizing that you don’t want to be held hostage by the pain and anger you feel. It’s not letting the other person off the hook. In my view, it’s releasing them to God. And He knows so much better than we do how to deal with our offenders! I also love that you’ve encouraged people who need to forgive someone to focus on and soak up the truths of Scripture. They are so healing to our hearts and I do this all the time–with or without the need to forgive someone. Great post, my friend!

    • melissa

      Thank you for such kind words! Forgiveness is a topic that I discuss with many of my clients. I love how you describe releasing them to God. So true! Thank you for reading and commenting! God bless!

  7. Definitely true that not forgiving is hard but not forgiving will eat you up. For quite a few years, I thought I had forgiven my sister for a deep, deep hurt. We were ever so close so I was amazed at what ended up more important to her that she would hurt me over it. It was a long, long process with God’s guiding to show me that to forgive actually in your heart gives the peace. I learned that I could forgive and still distance myself from further hurt, but the forgiveness had to be in my heart. I would think I had forgiven, but the grudge would show back up. It has to be genuine, and yes, I was convicted when going to prayer because I knew my heart wasn’t right. With forgiveness in my heart, I am at a much happier place. Such a right on post you share this morning. Thank you for a great reminder scriptures.

    • melissa

      Family wounds are so much harder to forgive and heal as well. Praise God that you were able to take your pain to Him and bring forgiveness into your heart. Thank you for reading and sharing your story! God bless!

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