Every human being has endured personal traumas that have challenged their ability to forgive. The deep hurts that occurred in childhood that were never deserved tend to remain hidden within, often unhealed, and can leave one emotionally or physically ill, feeling empty and incomplete. The abusive father, the alcoholic mother who neglected her children, or the spouse who walked out on the relationship have left many reeling with emotional or even physical scars that have left hideous wounds deep in the subconscious.
Unfortunately, it is usually those closest to us - whether a family member or friend - that have often been the one who has said or done something that caused great hurt and pain. Some have encountered prejudice or discrimination because of their skin color, or ethic background, or just because of their Christian testimony.
Consider yourself. Maybe there was a teacher who embarrassed you as a child before your classmates, or others who made fun because you were too fat, too skinny, too tall, or too short. Worse still, just when you believed that by belonging to a church family you were shielded from the pains of the world, you were betrayed by a friend or you became a victim of vicious gossip - from within the church!
Everyone has been disappointed, deceived, rejected, ridiculed, and abused. It could have happened just yesterday or many years ago. If a person desires to experience all that God has for them, then those wounds need to be healed and they must learn to forgive those who are guilty of hurting them.
The lives of most people are like broken chards of glass in a picture frame that must be mended one piece at a time. When people receive and then offer God’s forgiveness towards another, He gives them a new frame of His love and puts all the pieces back together again.
Most of life’s emotional and physical problems are often the result of unforgiveness and unreconciled relationships. Unpleasant or traumatic life experiences - conflicts with loved ones - feelings of guilt - fear, resentment - self-esteem issues - and poor thoughts and attitudes can radically affect a person’s health without even being aware of it because it may be held captive in the subconscious and affect their lifestyle and diet as well. Most importantly, a lack of knowledge and understanding of who God is, and what every individual person means to Him, can overshadow and affect virtually every minute detail of one’s life.
If conflicts and problems are not addressed at the root of both the conscious and subconscious, good health, if ever achieved, will only be at best an illusion and a short lived experience. Dealing with symptoms is of little help. The real cure means addressing the causes!
Learning how to navigate the challenges of this life by Living Forgiven is the secret to fulfilling the Great Commandment and finding complete spiritual, emotional, and physical healing.
Unforgiveness is the greatest hindrance to healing. The cure is found in learning what it means to be forgiven and how to forgive. It is vitally important to learn just how much God loves every person so that they can truly love Him back as He has commanded. This is the proof of a transformed mind!
Living Forgiven is learning how to love God emotionally, spiritually and physically. Understanding the dynamics of forgiveness, and learning how to implement them, will bring radical life-changing transformation.
By fulfilling the Great Commandment a person will learn how to truly love their self - their spouse - their children - their family - their friends and enemies - as well as their brothers and sisters in Christ. Living Forgiven is the secret to receiving all of God’s blessings and unleashing the inward and outward flow of His love.
Unforgiveness is a thief that will steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus said He came so that people might “have life” and “have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)
Forgiveness is the key to a new way of living the abundant life. Living Forgiven is walking in the understanding of what it means to be a child of God. However, it requires that there is a change of thinking about having a personal and intimate relationship with Him, as well as in relationships with others.
Forgiveness must flow out from each one of us to every member of the human family. When we reach out with forgiveness from our hearts, we are reaching out with the heart of God.