Today, we’re addressing two common myths about forgiveness –

1. If I forgive, I will immediately and automatically feel better.
2. If I forgive, I won’t feel hurt or angry again, no matter how many times my offender reoffends.

One of the biggest motivators for me to forgive is the promise of feeling better.

So let me clear! I’m not saying that forgiving an offender won’t bring peace from God and positive emotions in our hearts. It can and often does!

It’s just that sometimes we look at forgiveness as a sprint and expect to “win a prize” at the end of the race …

A race of one step. The decision to forgive, which only begins the race.

Do you remember the fictional character, Forest Gump? He “just ran” from Greenbow, Alabama, all the way to the west coast, and then he doubled back, running to the east coast and on and on? Ultimately, he was supposed to have run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours!

Forgiveness is like that … only longer!

It’s a never-ending journey in this life that is filled with hills and valleys—both of which God wants to use to deepen our faith in Him!

When we choose to forgive, God’s grace pours into us—giving us a new perspective in that moment. And often there truly is a “moment” of feeling peace here.

• But sometimes “that moment” is shocked back to reality when we’re reinjured by our offender.
• And sometimes it’s because we’re faced with the lingering consequences that don’t go away simply because we forgave.
• Worse yet, there are times when a wound is so deep and an offense so heinous that making the choice to forgive doesn’t immediately bring that flood of peace and good emotion at all.

That’s when we’re “forgiving in faith” and “not living in feeling!”

Much of the forgiving I’ve done in life has been rooted and maintained in “forgiving by faith” (faith in God, not my offender) because …

My offender often reoffends and reinjures, but my God remains faithful!

When we reach for God to heal that wound that’s been battered and sometimes broken open, He is faithful to comfort and bind up that wound. But God doesn’t always heal the wound completely. He also doesn’t necessarily remove that offender, the consequences, or the continual offenses.

Instead, our Lord leverages those yearnings, those pangs of pain, as well as the unhealed wounds that remain, as a way to drive us deeper into His love.

We cannot truly know Christ’s sacrificial love and forgiveness without experiencing and trusting Him in these dark, painful valleys that He, Himself, walked.

So if you second-guess yourself or wonder if you really didn’t forgive your offender because you still “feel” angry or still hurt when reoffended, then double back and head for the next coastline of God’s grace. I promise, He’s waiting for you with an ocean of His deep love and peace for you to swim in!

 

What feelings or fears do you still struggle with regarding a certain offender in your life?

 

What has God taught you on the long and winding journey of forgiveness that keeps you “running” toward Him today?

 

This is #9 in the Forgiveness Series. Click link to access #8 – 7 Biggest Myths of Forgiveness