“Bear with each other (and yourself) and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another (or yourself). Forgive everyone (and yourself) as the Lord forgave you.” - Colossians 3:13
Bitterness rises from woundedness deep within our soul, and can be rooted years back into our past. Pride is one lie that guards the secrets of our past. We do not want to admit to ourselves, nor to anyone else, the things that others did to us. We block these memories from our conscious mind, and we build a wall of pride and sometimes anger all around them. We falsely believe that these strong, negative emotions will protect us from any past, present and future hurt.
What these negative emotions actually do, however, is to block our soul from receiving the fullness of the love that God has for us now. Until we forgive ourselves and others, Satan gains the advantage over us. If we refuse to forgive, we give Satan permission to control that part of our soul, and to inflict his demons on our body and spirit as well. He holds us captive and the fruit of the Holy Spirit cannot manifest in that area of our soul. (2 Corinthians 2: 10-11; Hebrews 12: 16)
We do not need anger and pride to protect us when we have the King of kings as our mighty stronghold and fortress. As we put our trust in Christ, we live in abiding peace and joy ~ not only in our spirit, but deep within our soul as well. If you do not have this peace, then ask God for it. Do not allow Satan to deceive you with his lies. (Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 30:15)
When we have the King of kings hovering over us and sheltering us under His wings, we can forgive past hurts, and put future hurts into proper perspective. We can look for the seed of a miracle in every negative circumstance, because God promises to work all things, even the bad things, out for our good. (Romans 8: 28)
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us to forgive ourselves and others and to release them to you. We have no need to extract vengence on our own. Vengence is Yours, and You promise to repay each one according to his own works.Thought for the Day:
The Bible never commands us to like someone. God only requires that we allow HIM to love the person through us.
