Forgiveness

  I figured that instead of saying hey all and whatnot, we'll just jump right in to the new blog entry.  So, as I was reading my twitter feed a few weeks ago, Joyce Meyer posted about Romans 12:21 and she said after posting it, to reflect on it for a while.  So, I did, and as it turns out, it has been weighing on my heart rather heavily.  This is what Romans 12:21 says: "Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good." ~Romans 12:21.  "In this day of constant lawsuits and incessant demands for legal rights, Paul's command sounds almost impossible.  When someone hurts you deeply, instead of giving him what he deserves, Paul says to befriend him.  Why does Paul tell us to forgive our enemies? (1) Forgiveness may break a cycle of retaliation and lead to mutual reconciliation.  (2) It may make the enemy feel ashamed and change his ways. (3) By contrast, returning evil for evil hurts you just as much as it hurts your enemy.  Even if your enemy never repents, forgiving him will free you of a heavy load of bitterness." Once again this is Romans 12:21.  Forgiveness involves both attitudes and actions.  If you find it hard to feel forgiving toward someone who hurt you, you can at least try to act forgiving.  If appropriate, tell this person you would like to heal your relationship.  Give him a helping hand.  Send him a gift.  Smile at him.  Many times you will discover that right actions lead to right feelings." ~Romans 12:21.

          After reading and reflecting on all of those above Bible verses, this is what I received from it: No matter how difficult it is to forgive someone, especially someone who has hurt you greatly in the past, you still need to do the Christian thing, and really be forgiving to others, just as God has forgiven us.  You see, you can't live your life holding grudges against certain people, because if you do, then it will weigh on you for the rest of your life, and since you are not able to forgive others, you'll be living your life with constant pain and regret, and that is so not good for you or your health.  It can possibly ruin your life, know what I mean? As I've said many times before, you need to learn how to let go and let God take control of your life, because apart from Him we are nothing, and that's the cold, hard, truth.  I'm not here to offend anyone or make anyone feel guilty about what they've done in the past, I'm just trying to redirect them down the right path, is that too hard to ask? I sure hope not.  For others it might be, but for me, not so much.  Before I came to God, I was a very lost and hurt soul, as most of you that know me, knew that, and in the past, no matter how hard any of you tried, I still did whatever I wanted, no matter what.  I didn't care and constantly disobeyed The Lord, and my family, and that was a giant, no-no, see what I mean? But then one day, I just got sick and tired of making the same exact mistakes over and over again, so I just decided to let go of everything, and let The Lord take control of my life, because He knows what's better for me and for all of us actually, I just wish that certain people in this life, weren't so stubborn and stuck in their ways, that they will make excuses to not go to church, and whatnot, do you understand what I'm saying here? I sure hope that you do.  I'm not saying that I'm perfect, because I'm definitely not, none of us are.  The only one that is perfect, is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen? 

          On a completely unrelated topic, I just wanted to share an experience I had this past weekend, when I was in Rhode Island with my significant other and his mom.  Anyway, I never thought that I would ever be able to have a chance to meet this particular person because she lives so far away, but when I did, it was a great blessing because I never knew that she was such an amazing person and a very strong, Christian woman, because my significant other didn't tell me how much his mom was a devout Christian.  Back to the experience, I can just imagine how difficult it is for my significant other to say good bye to his biological mom.  If it were me, it would be very difficult for me to say good bye to my mom, because without her, I think I'd be lost.  When she left to go to Italy, I couldn't help but feel bad for Derek.  I just wanted to cry for him, it must hurt greatly.  I am really, quite blessed to have Derek in my life, and I can't imagine hurting him like he must have felt when his mom left his father all those years ago.  I don't mean to be negative and hurt anybody here, but I just can't help, but feel bad for him.  I guess that God had other plans for Derek's biological mom and his dad.  His dad is now married to yet another amazing woman, with an absolutely gorgeous family with four dogs and two cats.  We are all incredibly blessed.  Can you imagine taking someone for granted like your mom, when someone else in this world is praying for an actual mom to come back into their lives and never leaving them again?  I can't imagine that, nor would I want to imagine that, it just hurts too much, ya know?  I guess this is another example of forgiveness and how hard it can be to forgive those who have hurt me and us in the past.  

       Derek has turned out to be an amazing and strong, Christian man, and yes, I'm definitely blessed and very thankful to have met him and now he is in my life from now until forever, I hope.  Seeing what Derek has gone through and still continues to go through, it makes me want to try and be a better person and woman for him, because he deserves to have a good woman like myself, in his life.  I can't be his mom, but I can be an amazing, strong, Christian girlfriend, and hopefully a good wife and mom in the future.  Thank you, Lord, I love you, amen! and God Bless you all!

~Emily