A Dusty Diamond

If there is one vital key to releasing the light of Jesus in our Dusty Diamond it is the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness releases the heart from hurts, the mind from anger, and the body from stress. Forgiveness opens the way for the work of the Holy Spirit and Word of God. Even with such spiritual benefits however, we often still continue to hold on to the pain of the past. It is not unusual to want the pain that was perpetrated on us to be returned with interest on the people responsible. Because of this history of troubles we have: *A heart with hurts that can’t love. *A mind full of anger that searches for peace. *A body reacting to stress that can’t get relief or healing. *A guilty soul that will not experience freedom. The hurts and memories from the past of what was done to us haunt our minds and builds a layer of bitterness around our hearts. Forgiveness can be extremely difficult. But to allow love, joy, and peace to take place in our life, forgiveness is a necessity. Now that we have been released from the principle of sin by accepting the forgiveness God offers through Jesus Christ, we need to learn how to extend that same forgiveness to others. Forgiveness is the desire to release the burden of bitterness toward someone and to give them completely over to God. It is the memories of the past that are consuming our minds and standing in the way of progress. To move forward we must release those memories, and the people who caused those painful memories, and give them over to the Lord. In order for us to experience a fulfilled successful life as a Christian we must learn to forgive. Forgiveness is a major tool the Holy Spirit uses to bring about the exchange of stress to rest that we desire. As we begin to see what God’s Word is teaching us about the release we will gain through forgiveness, we start to understand how important it is for us to forgive. Forgiveness will cause our heart to stop aching. It brings our body into a calmer state, and takes away the feeling of guilt that is trying to rob us of our freedom. But if we refuse to forgive we are only hurting ourselves and cutting off the ability for God to move on our behalf. Thankfully the Lord is always available to support us in the process of forgiving, although there may be many tears wept before we can experience the exchange from turmoil to peace. The bitterness that has been building up for a long time could take an extended period of time to loosen its grip on our hearts. We are seeking the exchange that comes from Christ through obedience to the Word of God and the act of forgiveness. The goal is to learn to quickly forgive others. In doing so we not only receive forgiveness but we can grant forgiveness. God is willing to forgive us all our sins but we must be obedient to His Word and be willing to learn to forgive others. Forgiveness from us is only possible with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and obedience to the Word of God. We may struggle with the idea of forgiveness because it is a completely new concept we have not considered before. God understands that we can have a real struggle in learning to forgive. If we desire revenge, to repay evil with evil, then we are not practicing forgiveness. Our record of wrongs will never solve the problem we are having with our past. We must first trust that God is on our side and will handle those circumstances in His perfect timing. Our minds will argue that we just allowed the people that hurt us to get away free and clear. But this lie will keep us from receiving the blessing of release God desires we experience. God is just and will avenge the pain we suffered at the hands of sinful individuals. Our desire for revenge is not the answer, the only life changing answer is forgiveness. Forgiveness can be as simple or as complicated as is needed to deal with the memories of the past. Some hurtful issues may be easy to forgive. While others may take a long time to get freedom from the bitterness that has built up in our souls. So what are the steps we should take to forgive someone? *First we need to release our desire for vengeance. By releasing our desire for vengeance we allow the Holy Spirit to replace those hurt feelings with the assurance that God is truly on our side. This will allow us to focus our energy on forgiving instead of getting even. **Secondly we need to understand that God is in charge of judging sin and He is faithful. Will you see the perpetrators punished for their crimes against you? The fact is if we desire or demand to witness their punishment then we have not fully forgiven them, nor do we understand that God is in charge of all justice. Holding on to the resentment will withhold God’s hand from their punishment and our blessing of peace. His timing is perfect and we can rest on God’s promise that He will defend us. It is the Lord’s desire that in so far as it is possible with us that we live at peace with all people, even those individuals who have scarred our lives. ***Thirdly we need to seek forgiveness for ourselves for wanting to repay evil for evil. It is natural for us to wish to hurt those that hurt us. But it is the Lord’s desire that we follow His commands to leave vengeance to him. Therefore we can rest assured that if we release our desire to repay someone for a wrong we suffered God will take care of the matter in His timing.