How To Conceive Forgiveness For Others

forgivenessThis week in Life Palette we’ve been talking about the freedom of forgiveness. In fact we looked at this statement, “forgiveness always changes me”. In receiving God’s forgiveness I need to recognize that I will never be asked to forgive others more than I have been forgiven. The process of forgiveness others when they hurt us can be very difficult. There are four things to do to continue in the process of forgiving others.

1. Set your heart to forgive every day.

When teaching the disciples how to pray, Jesus made this a priority. He told them to pray: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”. This is a great habit to begin your day with. You can do this by simply praying, “God, I set my heart to forgive others today. When someone hurts me or when someone sins against me. I’m deciding in my heart right now to forgive. I’m asking you to empower me to live this out every moment of today.”

2. Do it now/ take action immediately.

The moment you realize someone is hurt you are sinned against you take action. Don’t let the hurt or the wound fester. The sooner you deal with it the better off you will be. Remember, you’ve already set your heart to forgive them. There is no need to consider whether or not you will forgive them, just do it!

3. Verbalize it to God

Talk to God about it. Don’t assume that you can do this on your own. You need His help, His power and His strength. As you verbalize forgiveness in prayer, remember that God not only is hearing you that you are hearing yourself as well. Why is that important? Because the Scripture tells us we speak words of life or death. Let God and let yourself hear you speaking words of life. Forgiveness is life!

4. Speak forgiveness to others.

It’s not always possible that you can speak words of forgiveness to those who have hurt you and sinned against you, however when possible do it. This does a couple of things for you and your relationship with them: first, this empowers you because you are speaking words of life to that person and hearing yourself confirm that by God’s power you are going to live in forgiveness. Second, this will help build a bridge to those who knowingly or willingly hurt you and allow you to move forward in the relationship. Remember, there may be a lot to navigate still. For more on that check out my post from Monday: How to live in Freedom.

Living out these four steps not only will help you can see the possibility and strength of forgiving others but also help you to stand in that forgiveness. Remember, as you forgive others you will live in freedom. That is God’s plan for you as His masterpiece.