FORGIVEN TO FORGIVE.

Happy Sunday people!!!
So I recently slipped in the bathroom and sprained my ankle, bringing my record to a total of 3 ankle sprains, I neck sprain and a broken arm need I mention I have a close relationship with my orthopedic.Now I’m living the life of a couch potato, slowly working my way to “fatville”, with my ankle in a cast and the not-so-desirable strain my arm gets from using crutches. All I do is watch TV, eat, sleep, order everyone around and when they don’t answer, complain about how nobody loves me.
All this talk about sprains and crutches is a digression because that is not what this post is about.

This is a post about the lesson my dog taught me.

My family recently bought two dogs, Smith and Rob. I have come to love these dogs and have fed Smith to near obesity. Rob doesn’t like food.
I have been as loving as can be with my dogs (simply put, I’m obsessed). I even call them my babies to my mother’s disgust. After seven dogs, one would think she would be over her hate.
So you can imagine the anger I felt a few days back, as I was sitting on the balcony and noticed Smith struggling to rip apart something with a very foul smell. I was even more disappointed when I saw it was a dead rat.

Smith, where did you find this? It is dead for a reason. Please let the dead rat be. Thus began my journey to separate Smith from the dead rat. I started shouting, hitting my crutch on the railings and practically constituting a nuisance to my neighbors. I wasn’t about to wobble all the way downstairs to rip them apart. Besides, he is my dog and should be able to obey me. After my acrobatic display, Smithy went to a corner where he thought I couldn’t see and ate the dead rat. I was sick to my stomach; Smith just ate a stinky dead rat.

Excuse me, Smith, did I not raise you better? Why did you do that? After all I have done for you, a dead rat? Did I wobble to the pet store to get you food only to have you eat a dead rat? I was disappointed.

For some weird reason, my dog eating a dead rat got me reflecting on grace and forgiveness. Here I sat watching my little doggy eat up a dead rat, thinking I’ll never be able to get the gross image out of my head. When I realized the depth God’s love and grace is truly amazing.

“For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” Jeremiah 31: 34
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” Hebrews 8: 12

God does not forgive by halves; the forgiveness of our sins is a complete one. He not only forgives our sins, but He also forgets them.

Thinking about the fact that God sees everything and is everywhere including right where you are committing a sin, that he saw what happened when and how it happened. Those times I tried to resist temptation and fell, and the times I didn’t even put up a fight. You know those moments when the escape from the situation was right in front of me, those I can’t believe you fell for that moment when God does a face in palm…

I suddenly realized on another level that his love runs real deep. Forgetting hearsay information is a lot easier than one you witnessed, and it is even more difficult when what you saw was hurtful and disappointing. The fact that he is willing to forget all of that is just amazing. Man, God is indeed God.

Now to the tricky part of forgiving and forgetting as humans. I have come to realize that as humans, we constantly want people to earn our forgiveness. There is always the why should I forgive, saying sorry doesn’t fix it, if I forgive easily they’ll do it again so they have to work hard to earn it. Although these are valid points, if a Christlike life is a life you desire, people earning forgiveness is not an option.

In this scripture,

“ And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” Ephesians 4:32

we are called to forgive because we have been forgiven. No more, No less. It’s the only reason. It’s the ultimate reason. The fact that the bible says to forgive doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to do. That’s why constantly praying for strength to let go in all circumstances is key. Nothing is too irrelevant to pray about. I find it helps “reporting” people to God. Not reporting in a “Lord I need you to strike her down” manner but just saying how I feel about the situation, telling God about it over and over, eases the anger and tension. (you should try it too)

So starting from this new week, when situations where we need to forgive arise and the devil tempts us to wait for an apology or makes us question why we should forgive at all, the answer is to forgive because we have been forgiven.

Remember, forgiving others is also key to your getting forgiven.

 “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” Mark 11:25

Have a beautiful week people, release people you have locked away in the unforgiving prison of your heart, pray for strength and pray for your “enemies” (you are someone’s enemy too.  We all need prayers.

Thanks for stopping by.

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