for·give·ness 
2. disposition or willingness to forgive.
REFERENCE FOR TODAY's POST:
Colossians 3:12-14
We live in a broken world. We live in a world today that destroys characters and integrity before one even has a chance to defend. Between agendas, ideologies that are not of God's and wrath and anger between men and women, it is hardly a place for transformation and reformation. However, when you read scripture on the story of God's love for us - Genesis through Revelation we find that God's way is counter-cyclical to man's ways, simply said, God's ways are not man's ways. We are sinful, He is not, we are broken, He is Holy and perfect, we have baggage and bondage, He can free us from all of that.
I honestly can not sit here and tell you, the reader, that if you have been wronged, violated, victimized and abused, that you can simply just "get over it" and to move on! That would be an impossible task! As we cannot save ourselves from eternal damnation, we cannot fix ourselves either, or the brokenness. However, I can confidently say this through Scripture: Let go and Let God. Whether you are a victim or the transgressor, there are two options: 1) hold on to the anger and the bitterness and the brokenness or 2) ask God to help you to either forgive the transgressor or to forgive you of your sins and not only accept that God will forgive you (through his son Jesus) and to repent and no longer keep on sinning.
Now before you chastise me and say how can God forgive that person for what he's done or she has done or what they haven't done and maybe they have just abandoned us or stopped loving us or hurt us in a way that seems like it can never be forgiven - think about this - the Bible tells us that the law of Moses (the Commandments) were set to condemn the sinner, that is, if we are guilty of one of the commandments, then we are guilty of them all! Jesus did not come to replace the law, but to fulfill it. What I am trying to say is that WE ARE ALL SINNERS! I am not making excuses for the transgressor or the wrongdoer, if they don't repent and they have unforgiven sin, that is Jesus is not their Savior, then they have punishment coming to them. But who are we to judge? There is only one worthy: Jesus Christ! There is only one able to forgive: Jesus Christ! And there is only one willing to die for our sins (that is, he died and rose again): Jesus Christ!
What happens when we don't forgive that person(s) for what they have done. Does that do any good for our souls? The Scripture that I referenced above gives us a way to begin this path = the path of Forgiveness. Scripture tells us (doesn't ask us) to forgive as the Lord has forgiven us! I cannot show you how to love the unlovable or to reach the unreachable. But with God, there is nothing impossible. Ask him today to show you the impossible. Ask him to help you to clear the bitterness and to set a prisoner free. The prisoner is you. The prisoner is you because of the pain and anguish and suffering that you have put yourself through and maybe, just maybe others that try to love you because you cannot trust because of the pain caused by you (to you). Do you see what I am trying to say? Forgive as God has forgiven you. To love as God loves you.
As we put on Jesus Christ, others will see less of us and more of him. The gifts that our promised to us through his Holy Spirit will be unlocked and we will be transformed through Sanctification by the Blood of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Remember this: God loves you! He suffered for you and took the pain of sin from you! All you have to do is let go and let God.
Where do you go from here? How do you start this process? What if the person that I need to forgive has died or is in prison or cannot be found or reached to forgive? The answer begins at prayer. Pray right now and ask God to show you the way. To give you the wisdom and discernment to both forgive and to protect you from the unlovable and unreachable.Thoughts?
Blessing in 2013,
Dante