Forgiven so that I can forgive

That's the theme of my blog tonight. There is nothing that happened tonight that made me want to write such a blog, but it's a song that hit me and I really felt like writing it.

The song is from Delirious and it's called "Majesty/Here I Am" and there is a line in the song that goes like this

Here I am, humbled by the love that You give,
Forgiven so that I can forgive.
So here I stand, knowing that I am Your desire,
Sanctified by glory and fire.

These words mean a lot to me, and I think we forget what that second line really means. In everyday language it means to let someone off the hook for something. And even in those terms we usually don't do that to the full extent. We still hold it against that certain person when we get mad or we think about it and get angered by the thought of it. What does forgiveness really mean? Complete and Honest forgiveness of the wrong-doings of someone else against you? The act of forgetting because why? And so I went to the Bible to find versus that moved me. Like this one in Chronicles:

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matthew 18:21-22

I'm sure that there are more, but it is 3:30AM and I am getting tired. But I mean look at these statements. Look at what we are asked to do! God FORGAVE and by that he took away all of our sin. We are FORGIVEN. Are we even capable of such forgiveness?

The dictionary term, or what wiki says is that "Forgiveness is the process of ceasing to feel resentment, indignation or anger against another person for a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution." Wow. Ceasing to demand punishment. Sometimes I don't think we can even understand what God is saying to us. If He can forgive this nasty world of all the sins that we can possibly come up with, how then can we sit back and hold a grudge on a lie that was told??

I'm not saying that if someone does something bad against us that we can't be mad, or that we can't take some time apart, but I've realized that not only does the other person feel great once forgiveness, TRUE forgiveness is given, but You feel good. It is something that weighs down on you if you are not careful. I mean in my life I've taken some pretty big steps in forgiving certain people. And while I forgive them, I still hold it against them. I still take that moment that hurt me and rub it in their face. So really I'm running around calling it something that it really isn't. But tonight after hearing that song, I think I'm ready to forgive, or at least truly forgive.

Does any of this make any sense? All that I'm saying is that those few lines really touched me tonight, and I felt that forgiving is one of the hardest and best things to do. So if there is at least one thing that you really can't just let go, I encourage you to lift it up to God and ask for His strength to really forgive. It'll be hard, but sooo worth it in the end!

Alright, night wonderful friends!

Amy