Love and Forgiveness

I get 3 "Daily Verses" in my inbox each day. Here they were for today:

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Psalms 103:8

"Live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." 1 Peter 3:8

"But now you must rid yourselves as all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Ere, there is no Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." Colossians 3:8-11

Thanks for the comments on the "Slander" post. I really wasn't looking for people to build me up with kind words (but of course that feels good). I really did want to bring up the issue for parents to think about. Our words have power. False words have great power to tear down something good--something that really helps kids who have no other alternative except international adoption. If you've had negative experiences, I support you FULLY to share about those negative experiences. Shout it from the rooftop. Just please, speak truth.

My verses for today are exactly my focus right now. My Christ teaches love, not hate; truth, not deception; forgiveness, not malice. Forgiveness doesn't come easily to me. I know some people can take a deep breath and then forgive someone. For me, if it's something "big", it's an ongoing process. It starts by letting go of anger and hurt. I'm telling you, ONLY through the example of my Lord am I able to do that. I am not naturally good at doing that. After letting go of anger and hurt comes forgiveness.

I looked up the definition of forgiveness and this definition seemed particularly good.

"Forgiveness is the conclusion of resentment. It is ceasing to demand punishment or restitution for a wrong."

Wow. Tough. Stop resenting a person who hurt you. Stop hoping they will in some way be punished for their deed. I don't know about you, but when someone does something to hurt me or my family, that's a tough thing!!

Again, only through Christ can I see this ever happening. How much more has humanity hurt God than someone here on earth could hurt another?! And yet, He forgave us. He not only forgave us, but offered us the gift of salvation. Humbling.

I will never come close to meeting the example that Christ has laid in front of me. But I can take baby steps so that forgiveness comes. With enough thought on "things above" rather than earthly squabbles, people can move on from that place of anger and resentment to a place of love and forgiveness.

I think of that old saying, "Let go. Let God." That's pretty much my focus right now. Moving on. There are so many wonderful things to put my focus on. I refuse to let resentment poison my thoughts any longer.

Thanks for letting me process "out loud."