A Personal Testimony of Forgiveness
Forgive? But I don't feel like forgiving!I
I would like to share with you, from my heart, about forgiveness. You see, I had to deal with a lot of forgiveness towards my father - way too many things happened to even begin to get in to, but the point I desire to share is the lesson the Lord taught me through 1 John 5:0-21.
Unfortunately, I had always said "if my dad died, I'd have the biggest party ever!" I truly hated him that much. I also am a person who can not stand to be called a liar! So, when the Lord hit me with this Scripture, it hit me hard, because I did love Him, and I did hate my earthly father!
What was I to do? FORGIVE.
But, how? I sure didn't feel like it!
Oh, there is where the true lesson began . . . I had to learn that forgiveness is an act of obedience, whether or not the 'feelings' are there or not! Therefore, to be obedient, I "chose" to forgive . . . still did not want to talk to him, see him, etc., but gave it over to the Lord, and asked Him to deal with him and my heart. Know what? God poured out His love for my dad into my heart, over a period of time, and there was reconciliation. Not only that, my dad ended up accepting Christ into his heart about a year before the Lord took him home! All because he could not "understand how I could have ever forgiven" him, and I was able to share the Lord's love - genuinely!
(c) kle 1999
I would like to share with you, from my heart, about forgiveness. You see, I had to deal with a lot of forgiveness towards my father - way too many things happened to even begin to get in to, but the point I desire to share is the lesson the Lord taught me through 1 John 5:0-21.
Unfortunately, I had always said "if my dad died, I'd have the biggest party ever!" I truly hated him that much. I also am a person who can not stand to be called a liar! So, when the Lord hit me with this Scripture, it hit me hard, because I did love Him, and I did hate my earthly father!
What was I to do? FORGIVE.
But, how? I sure didn't feel like it!
Oh, there is where the true lesson began . . . I had to learn that forgiveness is an act of obedience, whether or not the 'feelings' are there or not! Therefore, to be obedient, I "chose" to forgive . . . still did not want to talk to him, see him, etc., but gave it over to the Lord, and asked Him to deal with him and my heart. Know what? God poured out His love for my dad into my heart, over a period of time, and there was reconciliation. Not only that, my dad ended up accepting Christ into his heart about a year before the Lord took him home! All because he could not "understand how I could have ever forgiven" him, and I was able to share the Lord's love - genuinely!
(c) kle 1999
