What if I don’t WANT to forgive?

~Friday for Friends~

Sometimes hurts we receive lay way down deep and the last thing we want to do is forgive. We need to anyway. Yep, hard. But with God all things are possible.

We should forgive because God forgave us.

"Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

"For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25 (NIV)

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" Matthew 5:44 (NIV)

Now this last one seems especially hard. Even if you don’t have an enemy per se, it’s really easy to think of someone you’re, like, rivals with - NOT in just a boyfriend/girlfriend sense either. Like who’s a better student or who do Dad and Mom like more, who’s the better singer/artist/etc. And if we have real enemies it’s even harder. But, as I said before, all things are possible with Christ! God will help us forgive. Pray about it, will you?

How about you? Do you find forgiving hard? What other verses do you know on the topic?