Forgiveness

Yesterday, George continued teaching from James. In the morning, he spoke about all good things coming from the Lord. Many people, however, look for their good things in the world and are left unsatisfied. He encouraged them to keep their eyes on things above.

After the service, we hung out at the pastor's house until our afternoon classes. It's too expensive to take a taxi home in between so we are thankful they have opened their house to us.

In the afternoon, George reviewed the first chapter of James with the class and asked them to pull out key ideas we can learn from it. Even though the class is in Kiswahili most of the time and I am in and out with Eli, I like seeing them engage in discussion. George is good at getting everyone involved.

After they finished, it was my time with the ladies. As we discussed gossip last week, I sensed a lot of hurt in the lives of the women which led me to talk about forgiveness this week. Forgiveness is key in our walk as Christians, yet it can be very difficult. During our hour, we talked about many things regarding forgiveness including:

Why it's hard to forgive
Why we need to forgive
How do we forgive

We looked at many Bible verses for guidance. We learned a lot:

- We are commanded to forgive
- We often have to forgive someone multiple times.
- Jesus is our model when it comes to forgiveness.
- We are forgiven and need to forgive others.
- One incredible example of forgiveness, other than Jesus is Stephen.
- Love leads to forgiveness
- Forgiveness is a priority. God asks us to set things right with others before coming to the altar.
- It is not our job to seek revenge.

and more.

If forgiveness isn't given, it can lead to more sin - bitterness, anger.... Even though forgiveness is so hard, it really is the best thing for us. We can make a bad situation worse by holding on to the hurt and harboring hatred for another person. But, how do we let things go when it hurts so much? I shared with them what a pastor of mine taught me when I was having trouble forgiving someone who had hurt me. Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. We do it as an act of obedience to God, not because we feel like it. If we wait until the hurt goes away or until we feel like forgiving, we may never get there. We have to decide to forgive and release those feelings to the Lord. Then we need to ask Him for help in healing our hearts. It's not by our strength that we can forgive, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the hurt lingers so we need to keep forgiving that person when anger or bitterness comes back.

It's a difficult process, but doable with the Lord. As we talked, I really felt the Lord in the room. My heart was ministered to as I thought of people who had hurt me that I needed to forgive. I felt the ladies in the room were receiving healing as well. It was a powerful class and I pray that the Lord heals all the wounded hearts and helps us forgive.