Openly Forgiving Another

       Forgiveness is a lifestyle that many run from because it can feel uncomfortable. It involves one person dropping a barrier to communication to take a chance at being freed from a spiritual prison. The issue that has to be dealt with is more along the lines of forgetting about who was right or wrong and learning to move to a place of peace in the mind. The need for this peace of mind is not always solely for the one or more people who were directly involved in the issue at hand, but sometimes for the bystanders who happened to see all of the foolishness that took place. In other words, a conversation (or an action) that you could have steered in a better direction was instead catapulted into an argument that ultimately left both parties with a severed relationship and bystanders wondering what in the world just happened. Yes, there are times when you may need to forgive another person in front of everybody else who was also around.

       The healing that can take place through forgiveness is universal: it's for everyone connected in any way to what you need to resolve with another. The truth is that people need to not only hear but see forgiveness in action. As one rotten apple in a bag of apples can spoil the rest, so can unforgiveness in the presence of others. If you have wronged someone, you need to forgive him or her as soon as possible before a spiritual cancer spreads. Do not let what good you have done be evil spoken of [Romans 14:16-19]. In addition, I really love the way that the Apostle Paul states how people should not fight about words as this is not profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers [II Timothy 2:14].

       As you can see, it IS important that we learn to forgive in private as well as in the open when necessary because it is beneficial for both you and your hearers.