This bible verse clearly manifests how God loves us so much. The love of God for mankind is great that He sacrificed His only Son to redeem us from the depth of ours sins.
When Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross, God showed us that His love is very unconditional. In reality, who among us will lay down his life for the people he/she loves? It is very hard to answer, I bet. Yet, God did it for us. His love is very pure and tender.
"The Lord God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him." (Daniel 9:9). We should always remember that God is never tired of forgiving us. Only man gets tired of asking for forgiveness. We receive His love and mercy if we know how to forgive.
I believe that no matter how painful we've been hurt there is always a soft spot of forgiveness inside our hurts. In Colossians 3:13, he said, "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
We are just human, We are not perfect. We all have flaws in life. I, too have my own share of imperfections. We are weak. We are all subject to commit mistakes, to wrong doings. Most of the time, we got hurt by the people we love or the people close to our heart or we are even the one causing them pain.
It is not easy to forgive. Neither to ask for forgiveness. When we are overshadowed by our anger and we cultivate hate in our heart, we find it hard to forgive and we are rejecting the mercy of God.
God forgives our sins, even if we repeatedly commit the same mistake, He willingly and repeatedly forgive our sins, so, who are we not to forgive others, too. This is exactly the same thing Jesus told Peter when he was asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" And Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18:21-22) See how good and forgiving God is.
It really takes guts and effort to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. It takes a brave heart and determined heart to make this great move.
I admire those people who have the courage to forgive and those who have the eagerness ask for forgiveness. In that way, they are truly receiving the love and mercy of the Lord. You make your heart the temple of the Holy Spirit because you allow them to work inside you.
There were times in my life that I find it hard to forgive. I hesitate to ask for forgiveness. It's really been a while since my heart was covered with hate and anger influence the way I feel and think over life. I became paranoid and started to focused on the pessimist side of life. There were times I pretend to be okay, but I know my heart still has angst and pain.
Not until I realized that I am blessed with so many things in life that I should never savour the time of hating other people. The lessons I learned in life, the circumstances where I was with and the people I mingled with brought me back to my senses. I believe as the time swiftly flies, eventually, the wound is healed and over time, the pain subsides.
When you go through this certain process in your life, there will be a point that you want to unload all the excess baggage you carry inside your heart until you feel you want to forgive and forget and move on with what life still has to offer you.
It is not easy to forget all the wrongs things done to you. You cannot erase all the bad memories in your life. But being the child of God, recognizing His endless mercy, we should learn to love with all our heart because love keeps no record of sins.
Having all the realizations in life, I decided to forgive.
They say, the first to forgive is the first to love. And I love because I received God's mercy and love.
This is the same thing God did for us. He forgave our sins when Christ was nailed on the cross reminding us how humble He is even though He is a powerful God.
Humility is a virtue. A virtue that we should practice. A virtue that we be possessed by anyone who has a heart that loves and forgives.
It is hard to say sorry but to ask for forgiveness will not lessen your worth as a person. It becomes a sign that you are free from the slavery of hate. And if we forgive, we become the child God wants us to be.
At times, we become weak but I believe God allows us to remain weak to teach us how much we need him so that we can have all the reason to back in his loving arms.
We received His mercy if we forgive .And to continue receiving His mercy, let us acknowledge that we are sinners and we are ready to ask for forgiveness.
We get punishment from God because of the consequences of our acts. But it doesn't mean He doesn't love us. He just wanted to teach us lessons. It is never too late to ask for forgiveness. Even if we are forgiven, let us continue to ask for the mercy, love and guidance of God.
The most beautiful thing that will happen to you when you receive God's mercy through forgiveness is you once again build a bridge of love and you destroy the walls of division among others and among yourself.
You are free yourself from grudges and finally the prisoner that was you was freed from the prisoned walls of anger and hate.
Forgive. It is a gift.
Forgive. It is a blessing.
Forgive. You are loved.
Forgive. You will be forgiven.
Forgive. Because God forgives.
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Another personal reflection of the Wandering Soul from the 3-day retreat at the Mornese Center of Spirituality in Calamba, Laguna on February 17-19, 2016. The retreat master was Bishop Ted Bacani. The topic was in line with the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
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