Forgiving: A Way to True Blessedness
Be Forgiving, Renounce Hatred
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Mark 11:25
In seeking to be beautiful in God’s eyes, a woman must strive to have a beautiful heart. To possess a beautiful heart, a heart must be pure and must not harbor any form of resentments against anybody. A woman with such a heart will always choose to forgive rather than hate. Her heart has no room for bitterness and hatred. The most important thing in her life is to receive God’s forgiveness and she is very much aware of the importance of forgiving in order to be forgiven by God. She will rather humble herself to ask forgiveness from all those people she has offended than walk with pride and live with hatred.
A true Christian woman must not give room for any form of hatred in her heart. For this will surely make her life miserable. Living with hatred will steal away the joy from her and will make her an undesirable person. Harboring hatred will not give us a good testimony and will make our behavior unpleasant. At times, it may affect our performance at work, and even our physical well being. Hatred is a strong evidence of carnality and immaturity. A forgiving heart is a great heart, for it is indeed a display of Christ-likeness. There is true freedom in forgiving.
According to David Meengs of Biblical Counseling Worldwide, one of the root cause of depression is harboring resentments or bitterness or hatred. It is indeed of great importance that we learn to forgive. True healing of emotion begins with forgiving.
During the times of the kings in Israel, there lived an Israelite young girl who was taken as a captive by the bands of Aram. She served as a servant in the house of Naaman, the commander of the army of Aram. This young Jewish girl instead of hating Naaman had shown compassion towards him. She was the one who told Naaman’s wife that Naaman could be healed of his leprosy through a prophet in Israel named Elisha.
Naaman got healed of his leprosy and acknowledged that there is no other God, but the God of Israel. Because of the servant girl’s beautiful attitude towards the enemies of her nation, her God, the God of Israel was glorified in the life of Naaman. This servant girl’s beautiful heart brought great glory to the God of Israel. She is indeed a beautiful reminder of the proper way of treating our enemies.
(Bible Text: 2Kings 5:1-19)
Farida struggled very hard in forgiving the wife of her late uncle who confronted her with a scandal, throwing demeaning words against her. Such a woman who constantly slanders Farida and her family and even wishes for their destruction are really very difficult to forgive. This is one of the toughest tests she faced as a disciple of Christ. But Farida has seen that there is no other alternative other than to forgive if she really claims that she is indeed a true disciple of Christ. The Scripture made it very clear to her. The truth of Christ triumphed in her life and she chose to forgive her aunt. Farida chose to obey Christ than live in hatred. She did forgive her uncle’s wife and even blessed her including her household. Her testimony stands out in the community and their neighbors have seen what it takes to be a true Christian through her.
Let the light of Christ in you shine, forgive and bless your enemies.
“Offering forgiveness simply frees us to enjoy God’s undeserved gift of mercy, as we invite Him to accomplish beautiful works of peace-restoring grace in our lives and our relationships.”
-Xochitl Dixon (Daily Bread, Volume 25)
