Spring flirts with us this time of year. Winter one day, spring the next. On one glorious, warm day recently, I was inspired to fling open the windows and let fresh air into my house. As the new air blew in, I felt encouraged by the Lord to apply this principle to our spiritual lives in the area of forgiveness.
“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
We are motivated and commanded to forgive because of Christ’s example of extravagant forgiveness towards us. In the course of normal life, people hurt us, and after awhile, the air in our hearts can become stagnant with unforgiveness.
I was recently offended by someone. My husband, Bill, was present during the encounter and did not notice the offense. I later told him my perspective and he soon became as offended as I was. We soon realized our need to forgive, so we followed the Healing & Restoration forgiveness prayer. We acknowledged our hurt before the Lord, forgave the person who hurt us, repented for holding onto unforgiveness, and listened as God spoke healing truth to us. We felt great afterwards!
Can you relate to Bill in that story? I was offended and Bill took on a secondary offense. A secondary offense happens when someone takes on unforgiveness after hearing secondhand how someone else was wronged.
They are very common and require just as much attention as firsthand offenses. When we choose to forgive someone it doesn’t mean that what they did was okay. It simply means we no longer hold that offense against them anymore. Anything they owed us is between them and God. We are free to move on from the hurt to the life God intends for us.
Let’s take time this week and evaluate the space in our hearts. Spring is the perfect time to fling open the window of our hearts and let forgiveness in as we say goodbye to the stale air of unforgiveness. Bless you!