I have a weekly routine of exercise. When I miss it, like the break I took last week when I was out of town at the Exponential Conference in Florida, I can feel it when I get back to my usual routine.

It doesn’t take more than a week to feel “flabby.”

That’s true of our ability to forgive, as well. If we don’t daily—even all throughout our day—exercise our “forgiveness muscles,” we become flabby. We gravitate toward irritation, argumentativeness and bitterness. But when we choose to forgive on a daily and moment-by-moment basis, … 

We gain –

• God-awareness.
• Self-awareness.
• Humility.
• Empathy for others, especially for our offender.
• An ability to remain calm, feeling God’s peace when chaos or accusation is present.
• An ability to extend a boundless supply of God’s grace to others.

Look back over the list above and grade yourself on how strong you are in each area.

Would you give yourself an “A“, “B“, “C” or even worse?

What specific step can you take to improve that grade—moving closer to God and forgiving others?

Tell me about it in the comment section and we’ll cheer each other on to greater strengths in our ability to forgive!

I also want to highlight a couple of amazing blog posts—“Wise Words”—that I’ve come across recently:

“My Confession” by Alecia at Marriage Life: who shares the hardship and ongoing nature of healing from the betrayal of an affair. So very powerful!

“The Accepting Marriage” by Scott at Choose to Trust: who fleshes out what acceptance in marriage looks like. Believe me, it might not be what you expect! I kept thinking about and chewing on this one for days and days.

My husband and I also had the privilege of getting to meet Scott from Choose to Trust while we were in Florida. It was a “sweet” meeting—especially since Scott paid for our “sweet” drinks (mine was a caramel frappe at Panera! Oh, yeah!).

Here are some pictures taken with my iPhone of what we experienced at the Exponential Conference (sorry for the poor quality on some pics) …

Me and My pastor hubby, Gary

We experienced incredible worship times

She was one of my faves of the band!

Francis Chan really brought it–funny, wise and so very humble!

Joining with NOBH, Works for Me Wednesday, Mom’s the Word and To Love Honor and Vacuum

WW rules:

1. Write in any way you feel inspired about marriage, parenthood or anything that reflects Christ’s redemption in your life.
2. Be sure to include a link to Wedded Wednesday or add the WW button to your current blog post and/or sidebar.
3. Visit and comment on at least one other person’s blog that’s linked up here.

Optional but encouraged:

• Consider setting up your Gravatar profile and Disqus Profile with a link to your blog … it makes it so much easier for all of us to find those of you who blog!
• If you have the time, visit those who visit your blog and comment at their place as well … sort of a “Say it forward.”