Good Morning Gorgeous,
It’s a brand new day. A fresh start. A new day to rise and walk in the ways of the Lord. A new day that has the possibility to be distinctly different from yesterday. A new day that can hold a new decision. A new day that can hold a turn around the bend. A new day that has fresh mercies and a brand new outpouring of grace. New equipping is available for what you thought you could never do. Forgive.

One of Jesus’s continued messages was that of forgiveness. Why so much focus on the importance of His people forgiving others? Because it was the very gift that He walked the earth to bring His people. He came so that we might have life. He came so that we would not only have life, but have that life more abundantly. Not just salvation, but also direct connection to the Father.

This was only possible through the remission, forgiveness, atonement of sins. The Lord died so that we could walk in forgiveness. The Lord gave the ultimate gift to us, and one of the direct commands from Jesus to His followers is the act of forgiving others.

He calls us to be quick to forgive, and the direction gets even harder when He says to forgive 70 times 7 times. And in another scripture, forgive someone 7 times a day.

Why? Because that’s the very gift He is giving us. We are forgiven all day long. We sin all day. We often sin more than seven times a day! Even as we repent and walk empowered by Jesus, we often fall short of the way we are called to act. And there is Jesus right alongside of us. As we walk in connection to Him, repenting and asking for Holy Spirit to help us, He is forgiving us all day long.

His request? That we do the same to our fellow neighbor. That we are kind at work, slow to anger, avoid the trap of gossip, lift others up who have fallen, walk with love flowing from us, and even when someone hurts us, forgive them.

The only way that I have found to do this is to carry every hurt straight to Jesus. Whenever someone wrongs me, hurts me, disappoints me, I flee straight to Jesus. If I pour it out onto Him, He heals the hurt, softens my heart, gives me fresh perspective, and usually creates some type of opportunity for reconciliation with the person if that is necessary.

If I flee to a person before I flee to Jesus. I find myself reacting a totally different way to the hurt. I get ensnared in gossip. I get angrier than I already was feeling. Things get twisted, turned, and my perspective becomes augmented. My problem gets magnified and the space and room for the Lord to help me gets minimized by my own doing.

Flee to Jesus. Run to Him faaaast after someone offends you. Pour it all out on Him. Things will become clearer quicker. You will have clarity, wisdom, and healing for your hurt.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us. This is hard, and we can only be quick to forgive with Your empowerment and strength. Lord, guide us into the ways we are to walk. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Blessings!

Vanessa Lynn