It can be difficult to forgive someone who has hurt you once they ask for forgiveness, but what about someone who does not ask?
What about someone who does not even know they have done anything wrong, someone who does not know how deeply they have hurt you? Are we suppose to forgive them? How do we even begin?
GriffinWe are supposed to forgive those who have wronged us, as our Father forgives us for our wrongs. In Matthew 18:21-22 it says, “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
The Bible commands us to forgive all who have wronged us, whether they are aware of it or not. I am sure we are supposed to forgive the ones unaware, because when you hold onto anger like that, the only person you end up hurting is yourself.
If they never even realized they hurt you, or did anything wrong, do you think they lie awake at night, restless from the thoughts of you holding onto this? I am sure they do not, but I am also sure you do. Therefore, the only person losing any sleep on the issue is you, and that does not benefit anyone.
A question arises once you realize you must let go and forgive: Where do I start? Start on your knees. Take it to God. As hard as it is to forgive someone who has asked for forgiveness, it is going to be twice as hard to forgive the one who has not asked.
No one, no matter how strong, has the strength to do this on his or her own. On your knees though, turning it over to God is the only place to begin.
Pray for Him to heal your heart from the pain caused and the damage done as only He truly can. Psalm 107:19-20 says: “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.”
This has been one lesson that God has taught me recently with some struggles I have gone through. I had thought that if I did not forgive the person who had hurt me, I would be punishing them. He showed me that the only person still suffering was me.
With a lot of prayer and even more reliance on Him, He helped me to finally let go of everything I had been holding onto.
No one knows more about healing than our Heavenly Father, and no one knows more about forgiveness.
– Griffin is a student at Winthrop University. She attends North Rock Hill Church, where she teaches 6th and 7th grade girls in the youth group. She is a member of Harmony Baptist Church in Elgin, where her father, Daniel Griffin, is pastor.