I have often heard about the power of forgiveness, but until recently the phrase didn’t have a lot of meaning to me. A few years ago, I had an unfortunate incident with a relative. Without going into too much detail, I will say I was very hurt and felt that I in no way deserved the treatment I received.

This affected everything in my life, my marriage, and I just felt depressed. I was told by my pastor that I need to forgive this person. I knew that I needed to, but something inside of me just wouldn’t let it go. I dwelled on this for almost a year. Every time I thought about it, my blood would boil.

It is always so interesting how God works. He used such an awful experience to teach me about forgiveness. I really think that my life will forever be better learning this lesson.

That fall it became clear that it was about time for a reunion. Finally, I decided to start speaking with God about the situation. Then, winter rolled around and we were planning a visit.

I continued to pray and God gave me a revelation. It was, you don’t know if they know Jesus, this is your chance to be Jesus to them. At that point, I thought to myself, I need to go there with a forgiving spirit and show them some grace. That is just what I did.

I went out of my way to be kind and attentive to this person and the most amazing thing happened to me. It was like a weight was lifted off my back that I didn’t even know I was carrying around for a year. I felt lighter, happier and I felt God working.

I didn’t have to tell this person I forgive you, but my actions displayed this forgiveness. By the way, this person has still not said they were sorry for anything they had done, and the interesting thing is it doesn’t really matter. I was changed, and I am a better person from that experience.

Now that I really understand what it means to forgive, I can do it so much easier now. A few weeks ago, I was volunteering at church and treated rudely from an individual.

What I would have normally let eat at me for awhile, I was able to let it go and the next time I ran into this person I treated her kindly. That was such a better feeling than returning her gesture with a snub or rudeness.

By Jennifer, Simple Home Managing

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