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Forgiving What You Can’t Forget: Chapter 14 & Conclusion
Chapter 14: Living the Practice of Forgiveness Every Day Whew! We made it! Or do you feel like you’re just getting started? For me, this book located me somewhere in the middle of the journey that I had already started…but was sort of wandering in the dark without a road map; worldly views and misconceptions making for confusion. Biblical truths coming into focus has helped me to be at ease with the path I’ve travelled thus far, and gentle reminders that forgiveness isn’t a linear process where a finish line is crossed without ever a glance back. Rather, it’s a lot of back and forth. Progress and set-backs. But the…
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Forgiving What You Can’t Forget: Chapters 12 & 13
Chapter 12: The Part That Loss Plays Bitterness is a bit of a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it allows us to feel something when we might otherwise feel numb BUT it wants to set up residence inside all the wounded places inside of us and wear the disguise of all other chaotic emotions. Grief can make for softening of heart that helps to chip away at the bitterness and allow some perspective to seep in. It hasn’t taken an extreme scenario of grief to allow me time to process my hurts and ponder perspective; but I recognize that grief comes in a multitude of forms, including but not…
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7 Reasons To Forgive When You Are Hurting
I remember vividly when my husband left me. I told a friend, “It just doesn’t seem fair. I am hurting and he is living it up. He got off scot-free. ” My friend’s reply was thought-provoking: there really are reasons to forgive even when we are hurting. Why is it so hard to forgive when you are hurting? There are a lot of misconceptions wrapped up in the word “forgiveness”. Personally, forgiveness appeared to be condoning bad behavior. That was a lie. We need to let God take care of punishing or pardoning. Forgiveness doesn’t mean you are setting the offender free or excusing their actions. God sees and in His time will…