Mercy
and Judgment are two sides of the same coin. God never sends judgment on any
nation or people unless He first sends warning. If we fail to heed His warning,
and we continue in our purposeful sin, we end up in judgment.
God
is kind, compassionate, and forgiving to us; and He encourages us to follow His
example as we relate to the people in our life. God had mercy on us, and we
have mercy on one another (Ephesians 4:32).
However,
when someone hurts us, we want to strike back. We struggle to forgive the
offense, until we realize that forgiving does not have to include forgetting,
which is almost impossible for the human soul to do.
The
memory of the painful affront may linger in our heart; yet, we can still make a
conscious decision to forgive the offender, just as God readily forgives our
sins against Him.
God
actually asks us to be loving, compassionate and forgiving, in their time of
need, toward those who offend us. We can reach out to them in the name of Jesus,
and bless them in ways that God directs us to do for them.
Whether
the assault is a major event such as rape or physical abuse, or if it consists
of habitual, smaller impositions such as lies and betrayal, we can still
forgive. The key is to remember that we are not perfect either.
Forgiveness
means to pray for those who hurt us and to show them kindness (Matthew 5:44).
We can only do this through God's love for them, which dwells within us. It is
only by sincerely wishing them the best, that our healing is complete.
Prayer:
Father
God, make us a vessel of Your peace. When we are mistreated, we ask You to give
us ideas on how to bless our abuser. Even though they wound us, use us to help our
offender to heal. Help us to erect boundaries around our life to protect our
self from further assaults from them, but to remain open to Your direction in
regards to them.
Remind
us that bitterness is a boomerang that harms no one but our self. Teach us that
those who wound us are often not even affected at all by our resentment and
anger toward them. However, remind us that these negative emotions affect us
physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. When You ask us to bless
those who persecute us, keep our heart soft enough to submit to Your leading.
Thought
for the Day:
God
does not require that we like or remain close friends with our offender, and we
can erect boundaries around our self to keep the person from crossing over them
in order to remain safe from further abuse; however, our overall peace, joy and
health depend on our forgiving those who use and abuse us.
