Forgiveness: My findings during my stumbles along the rocky path

Happy New Year, merry new decade. Welcome 2010 (which is obviously pronounced 'twenty-ten', in case you hadn't heard). I want to start the new year off right, so I bring you this post! I'm not an expert in forgiveness, although I may be an expert in receiving forgiveness. In either case, these are my thoughts on this tough subject...


It's a choice
    Whether or not I feel like forgiving someone does not indicate whether I should forgive or not. Plain and simple, I always should. God commands it. I tend to wait for time to pass, or wait until I feel forgiveness, or until I just don't care anymore. That is when I usually forgive people. But it should (and doesn't) work like that. Through my experiences with forgiveness, the feelings tend to follow the choice.
    And, with that said, sometimes the feelings never come. But at least I'm trying to follow God's word.

It's for me
    I used to think that forgiveness was a gift I could give to someone. So I would hold back forgiveness, thinking that my wrongdoer would be anxiously waiting for me to dissolve their guilt for what they had done.
    So wrong.
    As it relates to human forgiveness, forgiving is for the forgiver, not the forgiven. By forgiving, I am releasing my bitterness, rage and anger (Eph 4:31) . I am going to have to want to forgive and I'll need to forgive in order to live the way God wants me to, not centered around the negative, but looking towards the One who gives us Joy.

It's not a one time deal
   Forgiving is a daily choice. Actually, it's more like a second-ly choice. Just as my choice to be a follower of Christ is a constant decision. I'll make the choice to forgive someone not once, but daily. And if I stumble, I always have the choice to continue forgiving. And, I have to continue to forgive, even if I don't feel like it.


These thoughts apply not only to forgiving others, but forgiving ourselves too. A lot of the time, for me, forgiving myself is a lot harder than forgiving others. And, in my opinion, there's no better place to practice forgiveness than internally.