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How to Forgive When They Don_t Deserve It-Biblical Truth · truthunedited

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Speaker 1: This video was inspired by one of our channel viewers,
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Speaker 1: a woman whose testimony left us speechless. After years of
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Speaker 1: carrying the weight of bitterness, she made the decision to
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Speaker 1: forgive her ex husband, the man who had hurt her deeply,
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Speaker 1: and when she did, something incredible happened. The anger that
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Speaker 1: had consumed her heart for so long was gone. She
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Speaker 1: said that for the first time in years, she felt free. Forgiveness.
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Speaker 1: It's something we all know we should do, yet it's
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Speaker 1: one of the hardest things God asks of us. The
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Speaker 1: world tells us to hold on to our anger, to
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Speaker 1: protect ourselves, to make sure the person who hurt us
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Speaker 1: feels what they did. But what if I told you
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Speaker 1: that holding on to that pain isn't making you stronger,
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Speaker 1: it's making you a prisoner. And if you're watching this,
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Speaker 1: we want to thank you because your story is exactly
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Speaker 1: why we created this video. How many of you are
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Speaker 1: still carrying wounds that refuse to heal. How many of
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Speaker 1: you have been wronged in a way that you can't
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Speaker 1: just let go of. Maybe it was a betrayal by
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Speaker 1: someone you trusted. Maybe it was a deep offense that
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Speaker 1: cut you to your core. Maybe it was something so
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Speaker 1: painful that even hearing the word forgiveness makes your heart tighten.
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Speaker 1: We understand, but more importantly, God understands, and that's why
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Speaker 1: today we are going to answer the questions that so
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Speaker 1: many of you have wrestled with. What does forgiveness really mean?
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Speaker 1: Is it for you or for the person who hurt you?
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Speaker 1: Does forgiving mean you have to forget? Why does God
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Speaker 1: command us to forgive even when it feels impossible. What
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Speaker 1: happens to those who don't deserve to be forgiven? Because
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Speaker 1: here's the truth. Forgiveness is not about letting someone off
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Speaker 1: the hook. It's about setting yourself free. And that is
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Speaker 1: what we will uncover to day through the pages of scripture,
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Speaker 1: both the Old and New Testament. We are going to
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Speaker 1: break down forgiveness like never before, because forgiveness is not
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Speaker 1: just an act. It is a weapon, a weapon that
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Speaker 1: destroys the power of pain, releases us from the chains
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Speaker 1: of bitterness, and restores what was lost. And by the
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Speaker 1: end of this video, you won't just understand forgiveness, you
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Speaker 1: will experience it. So let me ask you, what if
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Speaker 1: today was the day you let go? What if today
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Speaker 1: was the day you stopped letting the past control you?
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Speaker 1: What if today, for the first time in years, you
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Speaker 1: felt free, like this Deep Bible Stories video and share
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Speaker 1: it with someone who needs to hear this message, because
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Speaker 1: there is someone in your life right now who is
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Speaker 1: struggling to forgive. And if you want us to create
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Speaker 1: a video on another topic mentioned here, whether it's how
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Speaker 1: to heal from betrayal, how to trust again, or how
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Speaker 1: to break free from generational pain, let us know in
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Speaker 1: the comments. Our mission is to help you understand God's
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Speaker 1: word in a way that is clear, powerful, and life changing.
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Speaker 1: And if you want to go even deeper, check out
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Speaker 1: our ebooks in the description resources designed to help you
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Speaker 1: grow and walk in the freedom God has for you.
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Speaker 1: It is our prayer and hope that by the end
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Speaker 1: of this video something shifts inside of you, that the
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Speaker 1: walls you've built around your heart begin to fall, that
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Speaker 1: the weight you've been carrying starts to lift. Because forgiveness
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Speaker 1: isn't weakness, it's power, and today we are going to
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Speaker 1: show you why. Let's begin. Forgiveness isn't weakness, it's power.
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Speaker 1: But if that's true, then why does it feel so impossible.
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Speaker 1: You've heard the sermons, you've read the verses. You know
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Speaker 1: that God commands you to forgive. But when you try,
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Speaker 1: when you even think about letting go of what they did,
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Speaker 1: something inside you resists. It's like trying to breathe under water.
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Speaker 1: Your mind tells you it's the right thing to do,
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Speaker 1: but your heart refuses, because forgiveness is hard. Not just hard,
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Speaker 1: it can feel impossible. It goes against every instinct of
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Speaker 1: self preservation. When someone wounds you, everything inside of you
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Speaker 1: screams to protect yourself, to hold on to the pain
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Speaker 1: so you never get hurt again, to make sure they
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Speaker 1: pay for what they did, to never forget, And the
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Speaker 1: deeper the wound, the harder it is to let go.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you were betrayed by someone you trusted. Maybe you
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Speaker 1: were abandoned, left to pick up the pieces alone. Maybe
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Speaker 1: words were spoken over you that broke something inside of you.
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Speaker 1: Maybe what they did wasn't just hurtful, it was evil.
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Speaker 1: And the idea of forgiving them it feels like letting
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Speaker 1: them win. But here's the truth. Forgeive veness isn't about them,
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Speaker 1: It's about you. Look at the Bible. The greatest struggles
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Speaker 1: with forgiveness didn't come from weak people. They came from
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Speaker 1: those who had suffered deep wounds. Take Joseph, sold into
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Speaker 1: slavery by his own brothers, betrayed, lied about, forgotten. For
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Speaker 1: thirteen years he lived in the consequences of some one
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Speaker 1: else's sin. Imagine that the people who should have loved
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Speaker 1: him the most destroyed his life, and for over a
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Speaker 1: decade he suffered for it. Can you imagine the bitterness
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Speaker 1: that could have taken root in his heart, the desire
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Speaker 1: for revenge, the feeling that he could never trust again. Yet,
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Speaker 1: years later, when Joseph stood face to face with his brothers,
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Speaker 1: when he had the power to destroy them, what did
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Speaker 1: he do? He forgave them not because they deserved it,
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Speaker 1: not because they paid for what they did, but because
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Speaker 1: Joseph understood something most of us miss. Forgiveness is about freedom.
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Speaker 1: If Joseph had held onto the pain, he would have
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Speaker 1: stayed a prisoner, not in Egypt, but in his own heart.
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Speaker 1: His brothers had thrown him into a pit, but unforgiveness
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Speaker 1: would have buried him in something even deeper. And the
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Speaker 1: same is true for you. The longer you hold on
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Speaker 1: too unforgiveness, the longer you stay trapped. Jesus knew this.
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Speaker 1: That's why when Peter asked him, Lord, how many times?
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Speaker 1: Should I forgive seven times? Jesus responded, not seven times,
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Speaker 1: but seventy times seven. Do you know what that means?
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Speaker 1: It means forgiveness isn't just an action, it's a lifestyle.
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Speaker 1: But how how do you forgive when your heart is
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Speaker 1: still bleeding? Because here's what no one tells you. Forgiveness
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Speaker 1: isn't just hard without God, it's in possible. That's why
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Speaker 1: the world struggles to forgive. That's why people hold on
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Speaker 1: to grudges for decades, Why bitterness destroys families, why hatred
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Speaker 1: fuels entire generations, because human nature does not want to forgive.
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Speaker 1: That's why we need Jesus. Look at the cross, the
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Speaker 1: ultimate betrayal, the ultimate injustice, the most innocent man in history, beaten, mocked, humiliated,
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Speaker 1: nailed to a cross by the very people he came
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Speaker 1: to save. The ones he fed, the ones he healed,
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Speaker 1: The ones who just days earlier were shouting Hosanna, were
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Speaker 1: now screaming for his death. Than what were his final words, Father,
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Speaker 1: forgive them, not, Father, make them pay not Father, remember
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Speaker 1: what they did? Father, forgive them. Because Jesus knew what
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Speaker 1: unforgiveness does to the heart. He knew that hatred destroys
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Speaker 1: the one who carries it, and he knew that the
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Speaker 1: only way to truly be free is to forgiveive. But
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Speaker 1: how do you do it? How do you forgive someone
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Speaker 1: who isn't sorry? How do you forgive when the pain
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Speaker 1: still feels fresh? How do you forgive when you can't forget?
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Speaker 1: You can't not on your own, but God can. Ezekiel
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Speaker 1: thirty six twenty six says, I will give you a
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Speaker 1: new heart and put a new spirit in you. I
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Speaker 1: will remove from you your heart of stone and give
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Speaker 1: you a heart of flesh. That's what forgiveness requires. A
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Speaker 1: new heart, a heart that isn't ruled by pain, a
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Speaker 1: heart that doesn't hold onto the past, a heart that
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Speaker 1: chooses love over bitterness. Because forgiveness isn't a feeling, it's
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Speaker 1: a decision. And that decision isn't just for them, it's
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Speaker 1: for you. You cannot live in the fullness of God's
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Speaker 1: joy while holding on to unforgiveness. You cannot experience true
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Speaker 1: peace while keeping hatred locked inside of you. You cannot
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Speaker 1: walk in freedom while carrying the weight of the past.
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Speaker 1: And maybe you've tried, Maybe you've told yourself you've forgiven
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Speaker 1: but every time their name comes up, the pain resurfaces.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you've convinced yourself you've moved on, but deep down,
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Speaker 1: you still replay the betrayal over and over again. That's
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Speaker 1: because forgiveness is not a one time event. It's a process.
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Speaker 1: It is choosing every day to let go. It is
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Speaker 1: choosing every day to not let bitterness take root. It
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Speaker 1: is choosing every day to trust that God sees, God knows,
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Speaker 1: and God will handle justice. Romans twelve nineteen says, do
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Speaker 1: not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for
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Speaker 1: God's wrath. For it is written it is mine to avenge.
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Speaker 1: I will repay, says the Lord. When you forgive, you
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Speaker 1: are not excusing what they did. You are not pretending
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Speaker 1: it didn't hurt. You are placing it in God's hands.
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Speaker 1: You are t trusting that He will deal with it,
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Speaker 1: and he will. So now the choice is yours. You
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Speaker 1: can keep holding onto the pain, You can keep waiting
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Speaker 1: for them to make it right. You can keep rehearsing
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Speaker 1: the past and reliving the wounds. Or you can let go,
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Speaker 1: not because they deserve it, not because it's easy, but
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Speaker 1: because God forgave you first. Colossians three thirteen says forgive
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Speaker 1: as the Lord forgave you. And that's the truth that
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Speaker 1: changes everything, because when you truly understand how much God
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Speaker 1: has forgiven you, you realize that you have no right
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Speaker 1: to hold on to unforgiveness. So now the question is simple,
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Speaker 1: will you let this be the day you finally release it?
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Speaker 1: Will you allow God to give you a new heart?
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Speaker 1: Or will you keep holding on to something that is
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Speaker 1: only destroying you? Because forgiveness isn't just about the past,
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Speaker 1: it's about your future. Forgiveness isn't just about the past,
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Speaker 1: about your future. But how do you step into that
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Speaker 1: future when everything inside you still wrestles with letting go?
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Speaker 1: How do you move forward when forgiveness feels like a
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Speaker 1: battle between justice and mercy. The only way to truly
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Speaker 1: understand forgiveness is to see it the way God sees it,
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Speaker 1: because forgiveness is not something we define for ourselves. It
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Speaker 1: is something God has defined in his word. And if
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Speaker 1: we're going to forgive the way God calls us to,
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Speaker 1: we need to understand what the Bible actually says about it.
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Speaker 1: Many people misunderstand forgiveness. Some believe that forgiving means pretending
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Speaker 1: it never happened. Others think it means allowing someone to
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Speaker 1: keep hurting you. Some believe that God only forgives those
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Speaker 1: who deserve it, while others assume that because God is love,
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Speaker 1: he simply overlooks sin. But the Bible shows us the
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Speaker 1: full picture of forgiveness, justice, mercy, and grace working together
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Speaker 1: in ways that only God can balance. From the very beginning,
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Speaker 1: the Bible is a story of forgiveness. The moment Adam
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Speaker 1: and Eve sinned in the garden, they broke the perfect
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Speaker 1: relationship between humanity and God. They had every reason to
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Speaker 1: be condemned, but God covered them. He provided a sacrifice
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Speaker 1: in the form of animal skins, pointing to the truth
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Speaker 1: that forgiveness comes at a cost. Sin was not ignored,
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Speaker 1: it was paid for. Throughout the Old Testament we see
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Speaker 1: this pattern. Sin creates a debt, a price must be paid,
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Speaker 1: and forgiveness requires sacrifice. The entire sacrificial system in the
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Speaker 1: Law of Moses was built on this foundation. Leviticus seventeen
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Speaker 1: eleven says, for the life of the flesh is in
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Speaker 1: the blood, and I have given it to you on
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Speaker 1: the altar to make atonement for your soul. In other words,
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Speaker 1: sin could not simply be brushed aside. Forgiveness required blood,
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Speaker 1: because the wages of sin is death Romans six twenty three.
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Speaker 1: But even in the midst of the law, God revealed
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Speaker 1: his heart of mercy. In Exodus thirty four six through seven,
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Speaker 1: when God describes himself to Moses, he says, the Lord,
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Speaker 1: the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger,
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Speaker 1: abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and
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Speaker 1: forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. This is who God is.
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Speaker 1: He is just, but he is also merciful. He does
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Speaker 1: not ignore sin, but he provides a way for it
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Speaker 1: to be forgiven. Look at the story of David. He
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Speaker 1: was a man after God's own heart, yet he sinned greatly,
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Speaker 1: committing adultery with Bathsheba and orchestrating the death of her husband.
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Speaker 1: By all accounts, David deserved judgment, and when the prophet
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Speaker 1: Nathan confronted him, David did not make excuses, He did
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Speaker 1: not try to justify himself. He repented, and in Psalm
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Speaker 1: fifty one we see the heart of true repentance. Have
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Speaker 1: mercy on me, O, God, according to your unfailing love,
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Speaker 1: according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions, and
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Speaker 1: God forgave him not because David was good, not because
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Speaker 1: he could make up for what he had done, but
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Speaker 1: because God is merciful. Yet even in forgiveness, David still
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Speaker 1: faced consequences. His kingdom suffered, his family suffered. This shows
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Speaker 1: us an important truth. Forgiveness removes the eternal debt of sin,
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Speaker 1: but it does not always remove earthly consequences. Fast forward
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Speaker 1: to the New Testament and we see the full revelation
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Speaker 1: of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Everything that the Old test
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Speaker 1: sacrifices pointed to was fulfilled in him. John one twenty
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Speaker 1: nine declares, behold the lamb of God who takes away
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Speaker 1: the sin of the world. No longer would temporary sacrifices
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Speaker 1: be needed. Jesus would pay the full price. And how
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Speaker 1: does he model forgiveness. Look at the paralyzed man in
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Speaker 1: Mark two. He was lowered through the roof, desperate to
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Speaker 1: be healed. But before Jesus healed his body, he said
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Speaker 1: something shocking, son, your sins are forgiven. Why because Jesus
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Speaker 1: knew that the deeper issue was in the man's paralysis,
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Speaker 1: It was his separation from God. Physical healing is temporary,
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Speaker 1: but forgiveness is eternal. Look at the woman caught in adultery.
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Speaker 1: The Pharisees brought her to Jesus, ready to stone her.
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Speaker 1: According to the law, she deserved to die. But what
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Speaker 1: did Jesus do. He stooped down, wrote in the dust,
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Speaker 1: and then said, let him who is without sin, cast
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Speaker 1: the first stone. One by one they walked away, and
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Speaker 1: when it was just Jesus and the woman, he said,
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Speaker 1: neither do I condemn you, Go and sin no more.
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Speaker 1: This is biblical forgiveness, mercy without ignoring sin, grace without
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Speaker 1: denying truth. But perhaps the most powerful moment of forgiveness
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Speaker 1: in all of scripture happened on the cross. As Jesus
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Speaker 1: hung there, nailed between two criminals, mocked by the very
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Speaker 1: people he came to save. He had every right to
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Speaker 1: call down judgment. He could have condemned them in an instant,
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Speaker 1: but instead he prayed for them, Father, forgive them, for
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Speaker 1: they do not know what they are doing. That is
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Speaker 1: the love of God. That is what true forgiveness looks like.
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Speaker 1: And then three days later Jesus rose from the dead,
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Speaker 1: prove that his forgiveness was not just words but power.
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Speaker 1: So what does this mean for us. Ephesians four thirty
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Speaker 1: two tells us be kind and compassionate to one another,
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Speaker 1: forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.
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Speaker 1: Colossians three point thirteen echoes this, bear with each other
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Speaker 1: and forgive one another. If any of you has a
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Speaker 1: grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. This
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Speaker 1: is what makes Christian forgiveness different. We don't forgive because
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Speaker 1: people deserve it. We forgive because we were forgiven first.
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Speaker 1: But let's be honest, this is hard. It is one
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Speaker 1: thing to understand forgiveness in theory and another to actually
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Speaker 1: walk in it. Maybe you're thinking, but what about justice?
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Speaker 1: What about the person who hurt you and got away
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Speaker 1: with it? What about the person who never apologized? What
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Speaker 1: about the pain they caused? This is where we must
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Speaker 1: trust God. Romans twelve nineteen says, do not take revenge,
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Speaker 1: my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For
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Speaker 1: it is written it is mine to avenge I will repay,
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Speaker 1: says the Lord. Forgiveness does not mean that justice will
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Speaker 1: not be served. It means that you are releasing the
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Speaker 1: responsibility of judgment to God. He sees it all. He
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Speaker 1: knows the truth, and he will deal with it in
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Speaker 1: his perfect way and his perfect time. This is why
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Speaker 1: forgiveness is freedom, not because it erases the past, but
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Speaker 1: because it hands the past over to the only one
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Speaker 1: who can truly heal it. So now the question is
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Speaker 1: will you trust him? Will you trust that God's justice
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Speaker 1: is greater than your revenge? Will you trust that His
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Speaker 1: mercy is powerful enough to change even the hardest hearts.
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Speaker 1: Will you trust that letting go is not losing but winning.
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Speaker 1: Because the Bible doesn't just suggest forgiveness, it commands it,
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Speaker 1: and not because God wants to burden you, but because
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Speaker 1: he wants to set you free. Forgiveness is not easy.
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Speaker 1: But when we look at scripture, when we see how
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Speaker 1: God has forgiven us, we realize that we have no
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Speaker 1: right to hold on to unforgiveness. And when we forgive,
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Speaker 1: we are not just obeying God, we are stepping into
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Speaker 1: the very heart of the gospel. Forgiveness is at the
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Speaker 1: very heart of the Gospel. It is not optional, It
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Speaker 1: is not something we extend only when it feels convenient.
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Speaker 1: It is a command. But as we've seen, forgiveness is
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Speaker 1: often misunderstood. People hear the word and immediately assume that
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Speaker 1: it means pretending like nothing happened. They think it means
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Speaker 1: excusing what was done, minimizing the damage, or acting as
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Speaker 1: if pain is no big deal. And maybe that's why
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Speaker 1: forgiveness feels impossible, because deep down, we don't want to
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Speaker 1: excuse what happened, and the truth is we shouldn't. Forgiveness does
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Speaker 1: not mean pretending that the wound didn't cut deep. It
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Speaker 1: does not mean ignoring the betrayal, dismissing the damage, or
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Speaker 1: allowing someone to continue hurting us. True forgiveness is not
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Speaker 1: about excusing. It is about releasing, releasing the bitterness, releasing
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Speaker 1: the desire for revenge, releasing the responsibility of judgment into
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Speaker 1: God's hands. Think about the woman who inspired this very video.
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Speaker 1: For years, she carried the weight of anger and pain
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Speaker 1: toward her ex husband. What he did to her was
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Speaker 1: not okay. She had every reason to be bitter, every
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Speaker 1: reason to hold onto resentment, and yet she chose to forgive,
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Speaker 1: not because what he did didn't matter, but because she
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Speaker 1: refused to let it control her any longer. She didn't
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Speaker 1: excuse his actions, she didn't pretend it didn't hurt, but
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Speaker 1: she realized something that changed her life. Holding on to
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Speaker 1: unforgiveness wasn't punishing him, It was punishing her. That's the
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Speaker 1: part we often miss when we refuse to forgive. We
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Speaker 1: think we're making the other person suffer. But the truth
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Speaker 1: unforgiveness does more damage to us than it ever could
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Speaker 1: to them. Jesus understood this. That's why he calls us
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Speaker 1: to forgive, not to erase justice, but to set us
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Speaker 1: free from the chains of bitterness. But if forgiving does
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Speaker 1: not mean excusing, then what does the Bible actually say
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Speaker 1: about the difference. Look at Jesus when he forgave the
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Speaker 1: woman caught in adultery. He did not excuse her sin.
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Speaker 1: He did not say it's fine, don't worry about it. No,
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Speaker 1: he forgave her, and then he told her to leave
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Speaker 1: her sin behind, go and sin no more. He extended mercy,
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Speaker 1: but he did not minimize truth. We see this again
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Speaker 1: in the story of Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery,
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Speaker 1: left him for dead, and carried on with their lives
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Speaker 1: as if nothing happened. Years later, when Joseph had the
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Speaker 1: power to punish them, he chose to forgive. But he
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Speaker 1: didn't blindly trust them. He tested their hearts. He made
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Speaker 1: sure they had changed before he fully restored the relationship.
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Speaker 1: Forgiveness and accountability can coexist. And look at Jesus on
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Speaker 1: the cross as he was suffering, He prayed Father, forgive them,
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Speaker 1: for they do not know what they are doing. He
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Speaker 1: released them from the immediate weight of condemnation, but he
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Speaker 1: did not erase the reality that they were still responsible
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Speaker 1: for their actions. This is where many Christians struggle. They
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Speaker 1: assume that forgiveness means putting themselves back in harm's way,
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Speaker 1: that if they truly forgive, they have to keep trusting,
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Speaker 1: keep allowing, keep enduring abuse or mistreatment. But the Bible
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Speaker 1: never says that forgiveness is given freely, but trust is
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Speaker 1: rebuilt over time. You can forgive someone and still hold
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Speaker 1: them accountable. You can release the pain while still maintaining
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Speaker 1: healthy boundaries. You can pray for some one while still
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Speaker 1: recognizing that they need to take responsibility for their actions.
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Speaker 1: Take David and Saul. Saul spent years trying to kill David,
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Speaker 1: hunting him down, throwing spears at him, and chasing him
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Speaker 1: through the wilderness. David had multiple chances to take revenge,
23:51
Speaker 1: but he didn't. He spared Saul's life. He forgave him,
23:55
Speaker 1: But did David go back to the palace and pretend
23:58
Speaker 1: like nothing happened. Number he stayed away, He kept himself safe,
24:05
Speaker 1: because forgiveness does not mean allowing someone to continue hurting you.
24:09
Speaker 1: Maybe this is where you are right now. Maybe someone
24:13
Speaker 1: in your life has hurt you deeply, maybe they never
24:16
Speaker 1: even apologized. Maybe they are still trying to manipulate you,
24:20
Speaker 1: still acting like nothing happened, still refusing to acknowledge their part.
24:26
Speaker 1: And maybe you've been afraid to forgive because you think
24:29
Speaker 1: it means letting them back in. But hear this. God
24:33
Speaker 1: is not asking you to put yourself in danger. He
24:35
Speaker 1: is not asking you to ignore red flags. He is
24:39
Speaker 1: not asking you to excuse what was done. He is
24:42
Speaker 1: asking you to let go of the bitterness so that
24:46
Speaker 1: it does not destroy you. Because refusing to forgive will
24:50
Speaker 1: not change what happened, It will not undo the past,
24:54
Speaker 1: it will not make them suddenly feel remorse, but it
24:57
Speaker 1: will keep you bound to the pain forever. And that
25:01
Speaker 1: is why God commands us to forgive, not because it's easy,
25:05
Speaker 1: not because people deserve it, but because He wants us
25:08
Speaker 1: to be free. So how do we balance this, How
25:11
Speaker 1: do we forgive while still holding people accountable. First, we
25:16
Speaker 1: release them to God. Romans twelve nineteen reminds us, do
25:21
Speaker 1: not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for
25:24
Speaker 1: God's wrath. For it is written it is mine to
25:28
Speaker 1: avenge I will repay, says the Lord. When we forgive,
25:34
Speaker 1: we are not excusing their actions. We are placing them
25:37
Speaker 1: in the hands of the only one who can truly
25:40
Speaker 1: bring justice. Second, we set boundaries where necessary. Proverbs for
25:46
Speaker 1: twenty three says, above all else, guard your heart, for
25:50
Speaker 1: everything you do flows from it. Forgiveness does not mean
25:54
Speaker 1: allowing toxic people unlimited access to our lives. It means
25:59
Speaker 1: love them enough to release them while protecting ourselves from
26:04
Speaker 1: further harm. Third, we follow Jesus's example. He forgave without condition,
26:14
Speaker 1: but he also called people to truth and accountability. Forgiveness
26:20
Speaker 1: and wisdom must go hand in hand. And maybe you're wondering,
26:25
Speaker 1: what if the person I need to forgive never apologizes,
26:29
Speaker 1: then you forgive anyway, not for their sake, but for yours,
26:33
Speaker 1: Because at the end of the day, forgiveness is not
26:36
Speaker 1: a feeling. It is a choice, a choice to trust
26:40
Speaker 1: that God sees God knows and God will handle it.
26:46
Speaker 1: The woman who inspired this video she didn't wait for
26:49
Speaker 1: an apology. She didn't wait for her ex husband to
26:52
Speaker 1: acknowledge the pain he caused. She forgave because she knew
26:56
Speaker 1: that holding on to bitterness was keeping her in chains.
27:00
Speaker 1: And the moment she forgave, she was free. Not because
27:03
Speaker 1: what happened didn't matter, but because she chose to trust
27:07
Speaker 1: God with it. And now that choice is yours. Will
27:10
Speaker 1: you keep carrying the weight, keep rehearsing the pain, keep
27:13
Speaker 1: waiting for something that may never come, or will you
27:16
Speaker 1: release it? Not to excuse, not to ignore, but to
27:20
Speaker 1: finally fully be free. Forgiveness is not about excusing. It
27:27
Speaker 1: is not about pretending. It is not about making peace
27:30
Speaker 1: with what happened. It is about making peace with your
27:34
Speaker 1: own heart. The woman who inspired this video understood that
27:39
Speaker 1: for years she carried the weight of anger toward her
27:42
Speaker 1: ex husband. She had every reason to What he did
27:45
Speaker 1: wasn't fair, the pain he caused wasn't small, And for
27:49
Speaker 1: the longest time, she believed what most of us believe,
27:53
Speaker 1: that holding on to unforgiveness gave her control, that refusing
27:58
Speaker 1: to let go meant she was protecting herself that by
28:02
Speaker 1: keeping her heart closed, she was preventing him from hurting
28:05
Speaker 1: her again. But the truth hit her in a way
28:08
Speaker 1: she never expected. She wasn't keeping herself safe, she was
28:12
Speaker 1: keeping herself bound. She realized that her unforgiveness wasn't hurting him,
28:18
Speaker 1: It was hurting her. And this is the part of
28:21
Speaker 1: forgiveness that most people never understand. We think forgiveness is
28:26
Speaker 1: for the person who wronged us. We think it's something
28:29
Speaker 1: we give to them, that it's about releasing them. But
28:33
Speaker 1: what if I told you that forgiveness is not about
28:36
Speaker 1: them at all. What if I told you that forgiveness
28:40
Speaker 1: is for you. The Bible makes this truth painfully clear.
28:45
Speaker 1: Look a Cain and able Cain was consumed by jealousy
28:48
Speaker 1: and resentment. Instead of dealing with it, instead of choosing
28:52
Speaker 1: to forgive his brother, he let the bitterness take root,
28:56
Speaker 1: and that bitterness grew into something far worse, and into murder.
29:01
Speaker 1: Look at King Saul. He had everything power, anointing a
29:05
Speaker 1: kingdom that could have lasted forever, but he let his
29:08
Speaker 1: jealousy toward David consume him. He let unforgiveness twist his
29:13
Speaker 1: heart into paranoia, into rage, into a madness that destroyed
29:18
Speaker 1: him from the inside out. And then look at Joseph.
29:21
Speaker 1: If anyone had a reason to hold on to bitterness,
29:24
Speaker 1: it was him. Betrayed by his own brothers, sold into slavery,
29:30
Speaker 1: wrongfully imprisoned, forgotten. He had every reason to hate them,
29:35
Speaker 1: every reason to let that hatred define him, but he didn't.
29:38
Speaker 1: He forgave. And who did that forgiveness free? Not just
29:42
Speaker 1: his brothers, himself, Because here is the hidden truth about forgiveness.
29:46
Speaker 1: It is not about the other person, It is about you.
29:51
Speaker 1: Jesus knew this. That's why when Peter came to him
29:55
Speaker 1: and asked how many times should I forgive? Seven times,
30:00
Speaker 1: Jesus answered not seven times, but seventy times seven. Peter
30:07
Speaker 1: thought forgiveness was about measuring how much the other person
30:11
Speaker 1: deserved it, But Jesus showed him that forgiveness is about
30:16
Speaker 1: protecting our own hearts, because when we refuse to forgive,
30:21
Speaker 1: we are the ones who suffer. Have you ever noticed
30:25
Speaker 1: how unforgiveness affects you. It makes you bitter, It makes
30:29
Speaker 1: you replay the past over and over. It steals your joy,
30:33
Speaker 1: It hardens your heart, it makes it impossible to move forward.
30:37
Speaker 1: Then the worst part. The person who hurt you might
30:39
Speaker 1: not even care, They might not even remember what they did.
30:43
Speaker 1: They might have moved on. And yet here you are
30:47
Speaker 1: still carrying it, still allowing their actions to have power
30:51
Speaker 1: over your life, still letting the weight of unforgiveness drag
30:55
Speaker 1: you down. Jesus said in Matthew six fourteen to fifteen,
31:00
Speaker 1: if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will
31:04
Speaker 1: also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others,
31:07
Speaker 1: neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. That is a
31:12
Speaker 1: terrifying truth. Jesus is not saying that God's forgiveness is conditional.
31:17
Speaker 1: He is saying that a heart that refuses to forgive
31:20
Speaker 1: is a heart that has not truly understood his grace.
31:24
Speaker 1: Because when you realize how much God has forgiven you,
31:28
Speaker 1: you begin to see that you have no right to
31:32
Speaker 1: hold on to unforgiveness. Think about it. How many times
31:35
Speaker 1: have you sinned against God? How many times have you
31:39
Speaker 1: broken his commands? How many times have you ignored him,
31:43
Speaker 1: doubted him, turned away from him? And yet every single
31:47
Speaker 1: time He has offered you grace. Isiah one eighteen says,
31:52
Speaker 1: though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as
31:55
Speaker 1: white as snow. Psalm one hundred three twelve says, as
31:59
Speaker 1: far as the east is from the west, so far
32:02
Speaker 1: has he removed our transgressions from us. God doesn't just forgive,
32:07
Speaker 1: He completely removes the stain of our sin. And if
32:11
Speaker 1: He has done that for us, how can we refuse
32:14
Speaker 1: to do the same for others. Maybe you're still struggling,
32:17
Speaker 1: Maybe the pain is so deep that you don't even
32:20
Speaker 1: know where to start. Here's the good news. Forgiveness is
32:24
Speaker 1: not something you have to do alone. God never asks
32:27
Speaker 1: you to forgive in your own strength. He never asks
32:30
Speaker 1: you to produce something that you don't have. He gives
32:34
Speaker 1: you the power to do it. Ezekiel thirty six twenty
32:38
Speaker 1: six says, I will give you a new heart and
32:41
Speaker 1: put a new spirit in you. I will remove from
32:43
Speaker 1: you your heart of stone and give you a heart
32:46
Speaker 1: of flesh. That is what God wants to do for you.
32:50
Speaker 1: He wants to take the bitterness and replace it with peace.
32:54
Speaker 1: He wants to take the anger and replace it with healing.
32:58
Speaker 1: He wants to take the hurt and reply with joy.
33:01
Speaker 1: But he can't do that if you keep holding on.
33:04
Speaker 1: The woman who inspired this video learned that first hand.
33:08
Speaker 1: When she forgave, she thought she was releasing her ex husband,
33:13
Speaker 1: but in reality, she was releasing herself. And that is
33:17
Speaker 1: what God wants for you, because forgiveness is not about
33:22
Speaker 1: what the other person deserves. It is about what God
33:26
Speaker 1: wants to do in your life. It is about setting
33:29
Speaker 1: yourself free. So now the question is will you let go?
33:34
Speaker 1: Will you allow God to soften your heart? Will you
33:37
Speaker 1: choose to trust Him with your pain? Because the longer
33:41
Speaker 1: you hold on to unforgiveness, the longer you are choosing
33:44
Speaker 1: to stay in bondage. And the moment you release it,
33:48
Speaker 1: the moment you place it in God's hands, you will
33:51
Speaker 1: experience a freedom unlike anything you have ever known. Forgiveness
33:56
Speaker 1: is about setting yourself free. But what if the person
33:59
Speaker 1: who hurt you doesn't deserve it? That's the thought that
34:03
Speaker 1: holds so many people back. It's easy to forgive when
34:07
Speaker 1: someone is truly sorry, when they acknowledge their wrongs, when
34:11
Speaker 1: they make an effort to repair the damage. But what
34:14
Speaker 1: about the ones who never apologize, the ones who never
34:18
Speaker 1: even admit they were wrong, the ones who walk away
34:22
Speaker 1: like nothing happened, while you're left to pick up the
34:24
Speaker 1: pieces The woman who inspired this video faced this exact struggle.
34:33
Speaker 1: She wrestled with the idea of forgiving her ex husband because,
34:36
Speaker 1: in her mind, he didn't deserve it. He had caused
34:40
Speaker 1: damage that couldn't be undone, he had hurt her in
34:43
Speaker 1: ways that cut deep, and the worst part, he never
34:46
Speaker 1: once said he was sorry. And that's where many of
34:49
Speaker 1: you are right now. You want to forgive, but the
34:52
Speaker 1: idea of forgiving someone who doesn't deserve it feels impossible.
34:57
Speaker 1: But here's the uncomfortable truth. If forgiveness was only for
35:00
Speaker 1: those who deserved it, none of us would be forgiven.
35:04
Speaker 1: The Bible is filled with stories of forgiveness being given
35:09
Speaker 1: to the undeserving. Look at the prodigal son in Luke fifteen.
35:15
Speaker 1: He took his father's money, abandoned his family, wasted everything
35:19
Speaker 1: on reckless living, and only came back when he had
35:22
Speaker 1: nothing left. By all accounts, he didn't deserve another chance.
35:26
Speaker 1: But when he returned home, his father didn't meet him
35:30
Speaker 1: with anger. He didn't demand repayment, he didn't shame him
35:34
Speaker 1: for what he had done. Instead, he ran to him,
35:38
Speaker 1: embraced him, and welcomed him back as if nothing had happened.
35:41
Speaker 1: Why because true forgiveness isn't about what they deserve, It's
35:46
Speaker 1: about who you choose to be. Look at Joseph and
35:51
Speaker 1: his brothers. They didn't just betray him, They sold him
35:54
Speaker 1: into slavery. They let their own flesh and blood be
35:57
Speaker 1: taken away, not knowing if he would live or die,
36:00
Speaker 1: just to get rid of him. For years, Joseph suffered
36:04
Speaker 1: because of their decision. And then, years later, when he
36:08
Speaker 1: had risen to power and had the ability to make
36:11
Speaker 1: them suffer just as he had suffered, what did he do.
36:17
Speaker 1: He forgave them not because they deserved it, not because
36:21
Speaker 1: they had done enough to make up for what they did,
36:23
Speaker 1: but because he refused to let their betrayal define him.
36:28
Speaker 1: Look at David and King Saul. Saul hated David, hunted him,
36:33
Speaker 1: and tried to kill him over and over again. David
36:36
Speaker 1: had every right to see Saul as his enemy, and
36:40
Speaker 1: yet when David had the chance to take his revenge,
36:43
Speaker 1: he refused. He chose mercy over vengeance. And then, of course,
36:48
Speaker 1: look at Jesus, the ultimate example on the cross, after
36:52
Speaker 1: being beaten, mocked, spit on, abandoned, and nailed to a
36:56
Speaker 1: wooden cross by the very people he came to save,
36:59
Speaker 1: He did and curse them. He didn't call down fire
37:02
Speaker 1: from heaven. He didn't demand justice. Instead, he said, Father,
37:06
Speaker 1: forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
37:10
Speaker 1: How do you forgive like that? How do you forgive
37:13
Speaker 1: when the pain is still fresh? How do you forgive
37:16
Speaker 1: when they are not even sorry? How do you forgive
37:19
Speaker 1: when they don't deserve it? You do it the same
37:22
Speaker 1: way God forgave you. Because here's what we often forget.
37:26
Speaker 1: We were once the undeserving ones. Romans five eight says,
37:31
Speaker 1: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this
37:34
Speaker 1: while we were still sinners. Christ died for us, not
37:38
Speaker 1: after we repented, not after we had cleaned ourselves up,
37:42
Speaker 1: not after we had done anything to earn it, while
37:45
Speaker 1: we were still sinners, before we apologized, before we acknowledged
37:50
Speaker 1: our sin, before we even realized how much we needed him,
37:55
Speaker 1: And yet He forgave So Now the question is, if
37:58
Speaker 1: God forgave you when you didn't deserve it, how can
38:02
Speaker 1: you refuse to do the same for someone else. Maybe
38:05
Speaker 1: this is the hardest part of forgiveness, the part that
38:09
Speaker 1: feels unfair, the part that makes you want to fight back,
38:12
Speaker 1: hold onto the pain. Make sure they know just how
38:16
Speaker 1: much they hurt you. But refusing to forgive will never
38:19
Speaker 1: bring justice. It will only bring more pain. The woman
38:23
Speaker 1: who inspired this video learned that the hard way. At first,
38:29
Speaker 1: she held on to her anger like a shield, convinced
38:32
Speaker 1: that if she forgave, it meant she was letting her
38:35
Speaker 1: ex husband off the hook. But something happened when she
38:38
Speaker 1: finally released it. She realized that her forgiveness was never
38:43
Speaker 1: about him. It was about her own healing. She didn't
38:47
Speaker 1: need his apology, She didn't need him to make things right.
38:50
Speaker 1: She needed to be free. And the same is true
38:54
Speaker 1: for you. Maybe the person who hurt you will never
38:57
Speaker 1: admit they were wrong. Maybe they will never aponogize. Maybe
39:01
Speaker 1: they will continue living their life as if nothing ever happened.
39:05
Speaker 1: But you don't have to carry the weight of their
39:07
Speaker 1: actions any longer. You don't forgive because they deserve it.
39:12
Speaker 1: You forgive because God has called you to live in freedom.
39:15
Speaker 1: You forgive because you refuse to be controlled by the
39:19
Speaker 1: pain any longer. And most importantly, you forgive because you
39:23
Speaker 1: have been forgiven first. Matthew six fourteen to fifteen says,
39:28
Speaker 1: if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will
39:32
Speaker 1: also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others,
39:35
Speaker 1: neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. That is how
39:39
Speaker 1: serious God is about forgiveness, Because unforgiveness is poison. It
39:45
Speaker 1: will destroy your peace, It will rob you of your joy.
39:49
Speaker 1: It will keep you chained to the very thing you
39:51
Speaker 1: want to be free from. So now you have a choice.
39:56
Speaker 1: You can keep waiting for an apology that may never come.
40:00
Speaker 1: Can keep holding on to the bitterness, hoping it will
40:03
Speaker 1: somehow make things right. You can keep convincing yourself that
40:06
Speaker 1: they don't deserve forgiveness, or you can let go, not
40:10
Speaker 1: because they are innocent, not because they have earned it,
40:13
Speaker 1: but because you refuse to let their actions define you
40:17
Speaker 1: any longer. Because forgiveness is not about what they deserve.
40:22
Speaker 1: It is about what God has called you to do.
40:25
Speaker 1: Forgiveness is not about what they deserve. It is about
40:29
Speaker 1: what God has called you to do. But what if
40:32
Speaker 1: the pain still feels fresh. What if every time you
40:36
Speaker 1: think about what happened, it feels like the wound is
40:39
Speaker 1: being reopened. What if you want to forgive, but the
40:43
Speaker 1: weight of what they did is still pressing on your
40:46
Speaker 1: heart like an open wound that refuses to heal. This
40:51
Speaker 1: is where so many people struggle. They think forgiveness should
40:56
Speaker 1: come easily. They assume that once they say the words
40:59
Speaker 1: I forgive you, the pain will disappear, that the anger
41:03
Speaker 1: will vanish overnight, that they'll wake up one morning and
41:06
Speaker 1: suddenly feel free. But that's not how forgiveness works. Forgiveness
41:11
Speaker 1: is not just an event. It is a process. The
41:15
Speaker 1: woman who inspired this video knew this all too well
41:19
Speaker 1: when she made the decision to forgive her ex husband.
41:22
Speaker 1: It wasn't because she felt like it. It wasn't because
41:25
Speaker 1: the pain had faded, or because she suddenly saw him differently.
41:29
Speaker 1: She forgave him while the wound was still fresh. She
41:33
Speaker 1: forgave even when the memories still haunted her, even when
41:37
Speaker 1: the betrayal still stung, even when everything in her wanted
41:41
Speaker 1: to hold on to the pain. And maybe that's where
41:44
Speaker 1: you are right now. Maybe you know you need to forgive,
41:48
Speaker 1: but the pain still feels too raw. Maybe the betrayal
41:52
Speaker 1: still replays in your mind. Maybe the words that were
41:56
Speaker 1: spoken over you still echo in your heart. Maybe the
42:00
Speaker 1: wound hasn't even had time to fully heal, and the
42:03
Speaker 1: thought of forgiving feels impossible, So how do you do it?
42:07
Speaker 1: How do you forgive when the pain is still fresh?
42:10
Speaker 1: The first step is being honest about the hurt. Too
42:13
Speaker 1: many people believe that forgiveness means pretending it didn't hurt,
42:18
Speaker 1: that if they admit how deeply they were wounded, it
42:21
Speaker 1: means they're weak. But the Bible never tells us to
42:24
Speaker 1: ignore our pain. In fact, it tells us the opposite.
42:30
Speaker 1: God wants us to bring our wounds to him. Look
42:34
Speaker 1: at David in Psalm thirty four eighteen. He writes, the
42:38
Speaker 1: Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those
42:41
Speaker 1: who are crushed in spirit. David was not afraid to
42:45
Speaker 1: cry out to God in his pain. He didn't minimize it,
42:49
Speaker 1: he didn't brush it aside. He poured it out before
42:52
Speaker 1: the Lord, and in doing so he found healing. The
42:56
Speaker 1: woman who forgave her ex husband didn't do it by
42:59
Speaker 1: pretending she wasn't hurt. She acknowledged her pain before God. First,
43:04
Speaker 1: she allowed herself to grieve what had been lost. And
43:08
Speaker 1: that's what many of us need to do. We need
43:11
Speaker 1: to be honest with God about our pain. The second
43:14
Speaker 1: step is choosing to surrender the pain even when you
43:18
Speaker 1: don't feel like it. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It
43:21
Speaker 1: is a choice, a choice to surrender the pain into
43:24
Speaker 1: God's hands, a choice to say, Lord, I don't have
43:29
Speaker 1: the strength to forgive on my own, but I trust
43:33
Speaker 1: you with my heart. This is what Jesus did on
43:37
Speaker 1: the cross. He did not just suffer physically. He suffered emotionally.
43:41
Speaker 1: He was abandoned by his closest friends. He was mocked
43:45
Speaker 1: by the very people he came to save. He was humiliated, rejected,
43:50
Speaker 1: and left to die in agony. And yet in his
43:52
Speaker 1: final moments, he surrendered everything into the Father's hands. Father,
43:57
Speaker 1: forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
44:01
Speaker 1: He chose to forgive before the pain was gone. He
44:04
Speaker 1: chose to surrender before the suffering had ended. And that
44:09
Speaker 1: is what we must do. We must decide not because
44:13
Speaker 1: we feel ready, not because the pain has disappeared, but
44:17
Speaker 1: because we trust that God will heal us in the process.
44:21
Speaker 1: The third step is understanding that healing takes time. Forgiveness
44:26
Speaker 1: does not mean that all the pain instantly disappears. The
44:30
Speaker 1: woman who forgave her ex husband will tell you there
44:33
Speaker 1: were days she still struggled. There were moments where anger
44:37
Speaker 1: tried to creep back in. There were times she had
44:40
Speaker 1: to remind herself why she forgave in the first place.
44:44
Speaker 1: This is why Jesus told Peter to forgive seventy times
44:48
Speaker 1: seven times, because forgiveness is not something we do once.
44:53
Speaker 1: It is something we must choose again and again every
44:58
Speaker 1: single day. Maybe today you say, Lord, I forgive them,
45:02
Speaker 1: but tomorrow the pain comes back. What do you do.
45:05
Speaker 1: You choose again, Lord, I forgive them. I refuse to
45:10
Speaker 1: hold onto this hurt, And the next day you choose
45:14
Speaker 1: again and again until the weight is no longer there,
45:19
Speaker 1: until your heart is truly free. The fourth step is
45:24
Speaker 1: praying for the person who hurt you. This is the
45:27
Speaker 1: hardest part because everything in us wants to hold onto
45:31
Speaker 1: the anger. Everything in us wants to see justice, to
45:35
Speaker 1: see them realize what they did, to see them suffer
45:38
Speaker 1: the way we suffered. But Jesus tells us in Matthew
45:42
Speaker 1: five forty four, love your enemies and pray for those
45:46
Speaker 1: who persecute you. Why because when we pray for those
45:51
Speaker 1: who hurt us, something supernatural happens. God softens our hearts,
45:56
Speaker 1: He begins to change the way we see them. He
45:59
Speaker 1: reminds us that they too are broken people in need
46:03
Speaker 1: of grace, and in the process he heals us. The
46:09
Speaker 1: woman who forgave her ex husband did not just forgive.
46:12
Speaker 1: She prayed for him, and though he may never know,
46:16
Speaker 1: though he may never apologize, she found peace in knowing
46:20
Speaker 1: that she had released him into God's hands, and that
46:23
Speaker 1: is what we must do. Finally, the last step is
46:26
Speaker 1: trusting that God sees, God knows, and God will handle justice.
46:32
Speaker 1: Romans twelve nineteen says, do not take revenge, my dear friends,
46:36
Speaker 1: but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written
46:40
Speaker 1: it is mine to avenge. I will repay. Says the Lord.
46:45
Speaker 1: God is a just god. He does not overlook sin,
46:48
Speaker 1: He does not ignore what was done. He does not
46:51
Speaker 1: ask us to forgive so that evil can go unchecked.
46:54
Speaker 1: He asks us to forgive so that we can be
46:57
Speaker 1: free while he takes care of the justice. Because forgiveness
47:01
Speaker 1: is not about saying what happened was okay. It is
47:05
Speaker 1: about trusting that God will deal with it in his way,
47:10
Speaker 1: in his time. So how do you forgive when the
47:13
Speaker 1: pain is still fresh? You start by being honest with
47:16
Speaker 1: God about your pain. You surrender the hurt even when
47:20
Speaker 1: you don't feel like it. You remind yourself that healing
47:24
Speaker 1: takes time, You pray for the person who hurt you,
47:27
Speaker 1: and you trust that God will bring justice in his
47:30
Speaker 1: perfect way. The woman who inspired this video didn't forgive
47:35
Speaker 1: because the pain was gone. She forgave because she refused
47:39
Speaker 1: to let her pain define her future. And to day,
47:43
Speaker 1: you have the same choice. Will you keep carrying the weight,
47:46
Speaker 1: will you keep letting the pain control you, or will
47:49
Speaker 1: you take the first step toward healing? Not because they
47:52
Speaker 1: deserve it, but because God is calling you to freedom.
47:57
Speaker 1: Because forgiveness isn't about forget. It's not about pretending the
48:02
Speaker 1: pain ever happened. It's about letting go so that God
48:06
Speaker 1: can heal what was broken. Letting go is hard, Forgiving
48:11
Speaker 1: when the pain is still fresh feels impossible. But what
48:14
Speaker 1: if the key to forgiveness isn't found in trying harder,
48:18
Speaker 1: in forcing yourself to move on, or in waiting for
48:21
Speaker 1: time to heal the wounds. What if the secret to true,
48:25
Speaker 1: lasting forgiveness is found in God's forgiveness for you. The
48:29
Speaker 1: woman who inspired this video didn't forgive her ex husband
48:34
Speaker 1: because she had suddenly reached a place where the pain disappeared.
48:39
Speaker 1: She forgave because she finally understood how much God had
48:43
Speaker 1: forgiven her. For years, she wrestled with bitterness, feeling justified
48:48
Speaker 1: in her anger. And then one day, while reading about
48:51
Speaker 1: the crucifixion of Jesus, something hit her. She saw herself
48:55
Speaker 1: in the crowd. She saw herself in the people who
48:58
Speaker 1: mocked Jesus, in the ones who turned away from him,
49:02
Speaker 1: in the ones who betrayed him with their indifference. She
49:06
Speaker 1: saw herself in the very ones he prayed for when
49:10
Speaker 1: he said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know
49:15
Speaker 1: what they are doing. And in that moment, she realized
49:19
Speaker 1: something that broke her to her core. She was just
49:21
Speaker 1: as in need of forgiveness as the one who hurt her.
49:25
Speaker 1: That's the truth that so many of us miss. We
49:28
Speaker 1: see the sins of others clearly, but we minimize our own.
49:33
Speaker 1: We hold onto the wrongs done to us, but we
49:36
Speaker 1: forget the countless times we have fallen short. We expect
49:40
Speaker 1: justice for what was done to us, but we cry
49:43
Speaker 1: out for mercy when it's our turn to stand before God.
49:47
Speaker 1: The Bible makes one thing clear. Every single one of
49:50
Speaker 1: us has sinned. Romans three twenty three. Says, for all
49:55
Speaker 1: have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
49:58
Speaker 1: not some, not just the worst of humanity. All that
50:02
Speaker 1: means you, that means me, That means the people who
50:05
Speaker 1: have hurt us, and the people we have hurt. And
50:09
Speaker 1: yet despite our failures, God forgave us anyway. Ephesians one
50:14
Speaker 1: seven says in him we have redemption through his blood,
50:18
Speaker 1: the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of
50:22
Speaker 1: God's grace. He didn't forgive us because we earned it.
50:26
Speaker 1: He didn't forgive us because we apologized the right way.
50:30
Speaker 1: He didn't forgive us because we deserved it. He forgave
50:34
Speaker 1: us because he loved us. And that kind of love
50:37
Speaker 1: changes everything. Think about the parable of the unmerciful servant.
50:42
Speaker 1: In Matthew eighteen, Jesus tells a story of a man
50:45
Speaker 1: who owed a king a debt so massive he could
50:49
Speaker 1: never repay it. The king had every right to throw
50:52
Speaker 1: him into prison to make him suffer the consequences of
50:56
Speaker 1: what he owed, but instead he forgave the entire debt.
51:01
Speaker 1: But what did that man do. Instead of extending the
51:05
Speaker 1: same mercy, he turned around and demanded payment from someone
51:09
Speaker 1: who owed him far less, and when that person couldn't pay,
51:13
Speaker 1: he had him thrown into prison. When the king found out,
51:16
Speaker 1: he was furious, you, wicked servant, He said, I canceled
51:21
Speaker 1: all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
51:24
Speaker 1: Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just
51:26
Speaker 1: as I had on you? And that is the reality
51:30
Speaker 1: we face today. God has forgiven us a debt we
51:33
Speaker 1: could never repay. He has wiped away every failure, every sin,
51:39
Speaker 1: every moment of rebellion. He has freely given us grace
51:43
Speaker 1: that we did not deserve. And now he is asking us,
51:46
Speaker 1: will you do the same for others, Not because they
51:49
Speaker 1: deserve it, not because it's easy, but because you have
51:53
Speaker 1: been forgiven first. When the woman in this video forgave
51:57
Speaker 1: her ex husband, she wasn't excused using what he did.
52:01
Speaker 1: She wasn't pretending it never happened. She was responding to
52:05
Speaker 1: the grace she had received, and something miraculous happened. The
52:10
Speaker 1: bitterness that had once consumed her vanished, The weight she
52:13
Speaker 1: had been carrying, lifted, The peace she had been longing
52:17
Speaker 1: for finally filled her heart. Because forgiveness doesn't just change
52:22
Speaker 1: the person you forgive, it changes you to Corinthians five p.
52:27
Speaker 1: Seventeen says, if any one is in Christ, he is
52:31
Speaker 1: a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here.
52:36
Speaker 1: That is what forgiveness does. It makes you new. It
52:39
Speaker 1: takes the brokenness and replaces it with healing. It takes
52:43
Speaker 1: the anger and replaces it with peace. But none of
52:46
Speaker 1: this is possible without God. You cannot truly forgive on
52:50
Speaker 1: your own. The pain is too deep, the betrayal is
52:54
Speaker 1: too heavy. But when you fix your eyes on Jesus,
52:58
Speaker 1: when you truly grasp the love that He has poured
53:01
Speaker 1: out on you, it becomes possible. Forgiveness is not a burden,
53:05
Speaker 1: It is a gift. And when you choose to forgive,
53:08
Speaker 1: you are not just obeying God. You are stepping into
53:12
Speaker 1: the very heart of the Gospel. Because the greatest display
53:15
Speaker 1: of forgiveness in history was not given to those who
53:20
Speaker 1: deserved it. It was given on a cross with blood
53:23
Speaker 1: stained hands, to a world that had rejected him. And
53:28
Speaker 1: now he asks us to do the same. Will you
53:31
Speaker 1: let the love of God transform your heart? Will you
53:34
Speaker 1: allow his grace to break down the walls you've built.
53:37
Speaker 1: Will you choose freedom over bitterness? Because forgiveness is not
53:41
Speaker 1: about what was done to you. It's about what was
53:44
Speaker 1: done for you on the cross, and once you understand that,
53:48
Speaker 1: you will never see forgiveness the same way again. Once
53:52
Speaker 1: you understand the depth of God's forgiveness, you will never
53:56
Speaker 1: see forgiveness the same way again. Because it's not just
54:00
Speaker 1: about releasing some one else from their debt. It's about
54:03
Speaker 1: setting yourself free. It's about stepping into the kind of
54:07
Speaker 1: love that has the power to heal wounds, break chains,
54:11
Speaker 1: and transform lives. The woman who inspired this video discovered
54:16
Speaker 1: that first hand. The day she forgave her ex husband,
54:20
Speaker 1: something changed in her, not in him, in her. She
54:25
Speaker 1: expected to feel weak, she expected to feel like she
54:28
Speaker 1: was letting him off the hook, but instead she felt
54:32
Speaker 1: something she hadn't felt in years. Peace. The weight she
54:37
Speaker 1: had been carrying for so long was suddenly gone. The
54:41
Speaker 1: anger that had consumed her for years had no hold
54:45
Speaker 1: on her any more, and for the first time since
54:48
Speaker 1: the betrayal, she was free. That is what forgiveness does.
54:54
Speaker 1: It doesn't erase the past, it doesn't undo what was done,
55:00
Speaker 1: but it breaks the power of the past over your life.
55:03
Speaker 1: It keeps your wounds from turning into scars that define you.
55:07
Speaker 1: It stops the cycle of pain from repeating itself in
55:11
Speaker 1: your heart, in your family, in your future. This is
55:14
Speaker 1: why forgiveness changes everything. Look at the story of Joseph.
55:19
Speaker 1: His brothers stole his life from him. He spent years
55:22
Speaker 1: as a slave, years in prison, years wondering if he
55:27
Speaker 1: would ever see freedom again. He had every right to
55:30
Speaker 1: hold on to his pain. But the moment he forgave,
55:34
Speaker 1: the moment he told his brothers, you intended to harm me,
55:37
Speaker 1: but God intended it for good Genesis fifty twenty, the
55:42
Speaker 1: pain lost its power. His story didn't end in bitterness.
55:48
Speaker 1: It ended in restoration. Look at Job. He lost everything,
55:52
Speaker 1: his family, his wealth, his health, and yet his breakthrough
55:56
Speaker 1: didn't come when his suffering ended. It came when he
55:59
Speaker 1: forgave the friends who had wronged him. Jub forty two.
56:03
Speaker 1: Ten says after Job had prayed for his friends, the
56:06
Speaker 1: lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much
56:10
Speaker 1: as he had before. His healing was tied to his forgiveness.
56:14
Speaker 1: Look at Stephen in Act seven, as he was being
56:18
Speaker 1: stoned to death, as the crowd hurled rocks at him,
56:21
Speaker 1: as he was breathing his last breath, he echoed the
56:24
Speaker 1: words of Jesus and prayed, Lord, do not hold this
56:30
Speaker 1: sin against them. Stephen's enemies thought they were silencing him.
56:34
Speaker 1: They didn't realize they were releasing him into eternal glory.
56:38
Speaker 1: Forgiveness is not a loss, It is a victory, and
56:41
Speaker 1: the greatest proof of that victory is the Cross. Because
56:44
Speaker 1: the truth is, we were all on the wrong side
56:47
Speaker 1: of forgiveness once, the Bible says in Colossians one twenty one.
56:52
Speaker 1: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in
56:56
Speaker 1: your minds because of your evil behavior. We were enemies
57:01
Speaker 1: of God. We had turned away from him, we had
57:04
Speaker 1: chosen our own way. And yet instead of judgment, he
57:08
Speaker 1: offered us grace. Instead of demanding payment, he paid the
57:12
Speaker 1: price himself. Romans five ten says, for if while we
57:17
Speaker 1: were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the
57:21
Speaker 1: death of his son, how much more having been reconciled,
57:25
Speaker 1: shall we be saved through his life. We didn't deserve it,
57:29
Speaker 1: but he forgave us anyway, And now he is asking
57:32
Speaker 1: us to do the same. So where does that leave you?
57:36
Speaker 1: Are you still holding on to unforgiveness, believing it gives
57:40
Speaker 1: you power? Are you still waiting for an apology that
57:43
Speaker 1: may never come. Are you still letting the pain of
57:46
Speaker 1: the past control your present? Because here's the truth. Unforgiveness
57:51
Speaker 1: doesn't keep them in prison. It keeps you in prison.
57:56
Speaker 1: It keeps you reliving the moment they hurt you. It
57:59
Speaker 1: keeps you trapped in the anger, the betrayal, the bitterness.
58:03
Speaker 1: It keeps you stuck in a place that God never
58:05
Speaker 1: intended you to stay. But you don't have to stay there.
58:09
Speaker 1: The woman in this video found freedom the moment she
58:13
Speaker 1: let go. Joseph stepped into his destiny, the moment he
58:17
Speaker 1: forgave Job was restored, the moment he prayed for his friends.
58:22
Speaker 1: Stephen entered glory, the moment he released his enemies and Jesus.
58:28
Speaker 1: Jesus gave us eternal life, the moment he said it
58:31
Speaker 1: is finished. So now the question is, will you let
58:36
Speaker 1: forgiveness change your life? Will you trust God with the pain?
58:41
Speaker 1: Will you release the burden you've been carrying? Will you
58:44
Speaker 1: stop waiting for someone else to make things right and
58:47
Speaker 1: instead step into the freedom that God has already given you.
58:51
Speaker 1: Because when you truly forgive, you don't just break free
58:54
Speaker 1: from the past, You step into the future that God
58:58
Speaker 1: has waiting for you. Forgiveness is a choice, and now
59:03
Speaker 1: the choice is in front of you. Will you keep
59:05
Speaker 1: holding on to the pain, letting it define you, or
59:09
Speaker 1: will you surrender it to God and finally walk in
59:12
Speaker 1: the freedom He has been offering you all along. Maybe
59:16
Speaker 1: as you've been watching this video, names have come to mind,
59:21
Speaker 1: faces of people who have wronged you, Memories you've been
59:24
Speaker 1: trying to forget, but they still haunt you. You've carried
59:28
Speaker 1: the weight of anger for so long, and deep down,
59:32
Speaker 1: part of you is afraid to let it go because
59:35
Speaker 1: what happens when you do? Will they get away with it?
59:39
Speaker 1: Will the pain suddenly disappear? Will forgiving mean you have
59:44
Speaker 1: to forget? But forgiveness isn't about forgetting, It's about releasing.
59:49
Speaker 1: It's about stepping into the life God has for you,
59:52
Speaker 1: without the chains of the past holding you back. The
59:56
Speaker 1: woman who inspired this video had to make this choice.
1:00:00
Speaker 1: She could have kept living in bitterness, she could have
1:00:03
Speaker 1: justified her anger, but instead she stood before God and
1:00:09
Speaker 1: surrendered it all. And in that moment everything changed. Her
1:00:13
Speaker 1: heart became light, her spirit found peace. The power of
1:00:16
Speaker 1: the past was broken. And now it's your turn. Wherever
1:00:20
Speaker 1: you are right now, whether you're sitting in your car,
1:00:23
Speaker 1: lying in bed, or watching this with tears in your eyes,
1:00:27
Speaker 1: God is here with you. He sees your pain, he
1:00:32
Speaker 1: knows your wounds, and he is inviting you into something
1:00:35
Speaker 1: greater than your hurt. So let's pray together. Father. I
1:00:39
Speaker 1: come before you carrying the weight of pain, betrayal, and disappointment.
1:00:44
Speaker 1: I have held on to anger because I thought it
1:00:46
Speaker 1: protected me. I have carried bitterness because I thought it
1:00:50
Speaker 1: gave me control. But to day I realize that it
1:00:54
Speaker 1: has only been a prison, a prison that has kept
1:00:57
Speaker 1: me bound to the very thing I want to be
1:00:59
Speaker 1: free from. I don't want to live this way any more.
1:01:03
Speaker 1: I don't want my heart to be hardened. I don't
1:01:05
Speaker 1: want my mind to be consumed with what was done
1:01:08
Speaker 1: to me. I want to be free. I want to
1:01:10
Speaker 1: walk in your peace. I want to forgive, But God,
1:01:14
Speaker 1: I don't know how. The pain is still fresh, the
1:01:17
Speaker 1: memories are still sharp, and part of me is afraid
1:01:20
Speaker 1: to let go. There are moments when I think I
1:01:23
Speaker 1: have moved on, only for something to remind me of
1:01:26
Speaker 1: what happened, and the pain comes rushing back. There are
1:01:30
Speaker 1: days when I feel strong, but then resentment creeps in
1:01:34
Speaker 1: and whispers they don't deserve forgiveness. There are nights when
1:01:39
Speaker 1: I replay every word spoken, every action taken, and I
1:01:44
Speaker 1: wonder if healing is even possible. But Lord, I know
1:01:48
Speaker 1: you did not create me to live in this cycle
1:01:51
Speaker 1: of pain. You did not call me to be a
1:01:54
Speaker 1: prisoner of my past. You did not design my heart
1:01:57
Speaker 1: to be consumed with anger, with bitterness, with wounds that
1:02:01
Speaker 1: never heal. So right now I surrender. I surrender the pain,
1:02:06
Speaker 1: the wound that still aches, the words that still echo,
1:02:09
Speaker 1: the betrayal that cut so deep. I lay it all
1:02:12
Speaker 1: at your feet. I don't want to carry it any more.
1:02:15
Speaker 1: I don't want to let it poison my heart. I
1:02:18
Speaker 1: don't want to allow it to shape who I am. Lord.
1:02:21
Speaker 1: I choose to forgive, not because they deserve it, but
1:02:24
Speaker 1: because you have forgiven me. Not because it's easy, but
1:02:29
Speaker 1: because you have called me to live in freedom. Your
1:02:34
Speaker 1: word says in Matthew six fourteen, for if you forgive
1:02:38
Speaker 1: others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
1:02:43
Speaker 1: And I don't want anything to stand in the way
1:02:46
Speaker 1: of my relationship with you. Right now, Lord, I lift
1:02:51
Speaker 1: up the person who hurt me. You know their name,
1:02:54
Speaker 1: you know what they did, you know the impact it
1:02:57
Speaker 1: had on my life, And yet you also know their heart.
1:03:02
Speaker 1: You see them in ways I cannot. You understand them
1:03:06
Speaker 1: in ways I never will. And because of that, I
1:03:12
Speaker 1: release them to you. I refuse to be their judge.
1:03:18
Speaker 1: I refuse to let my pain decide their punishment. I
1:03:21
Speaker 1: refuse to spend one more moment waiting for an apology
1:03:25
Speaker 1: that may never come. Instead, I give them to you, Lord.
1:03:30
Speaker 1: If they need to be corrected, I trust you to
1:03:32
Speaker 1: correct them. If they need to be humbled, I trust
1:03:35
Speaker 1: you to humble them. If they need transformation, I trust
1:03:39
Speaker 1: you to do the work in their heart. But as
1:03:41
Speaker 1: for me, I will not carry this burden any longer. Lord,
1:03:45
Speaker 1: I ask you to heal me. Take the anger and
1:03:48
Speaker 1: replace it with peace, Take the bitterness and replace it
1:03:52
Speaker 1: with love. Take the wounds and fill them with your presence.
1:03:56
Speaker 1: Teach me to walk in love, not just in words,
1:03:59
Speaker 1: but in action. Teach me to see others through your eyes,
1:04:03
Speaker 1: not through the lens of my pain. Teach me to
1:04:06
Speaker 1: trust that you are my protector, my avenger, my defender.
1:04:10
Speaker 1: Help me when the memories resurface when the emotions try
1:04:14
Speaker 1: to pull me back. Help me to stand firm in
1:04:17
Speaker 1: my decision to forgive, to choose it daily, to walk
1:04:22
Speaker 1: in it even when my feelings don't align. Because forgiveness
1:04:27
Speaker 1: is not just about a one time choice. It is
1:04:30
Speaker 1: about a transformed heart. And I want my heart to
1:04:35
Speaker 1: look like yours. Lord. Thank you Jesus for showing me
1:04:38
Speaker 1: what true forgiveness looks like. Thank you for bearing my
1:04:42
Speaker 1: sins on the cross. Thank you for loving me even
1:04:46
Speaker 1: when I was undeserving, and thank you for teaching me
1:04:49
Speaker 1: to walk in that same love. Today. I leave my
1:04:53
Speaker 1: past behind. Today, I step into freedom. Today I walk
1:04:58
Speaker 1: in the forgiveness you have given me, and I extend
1:05:01
Speaker 1: it to those who have hurt me in Jesus name. Amen,
1:05:05
Speaker 1: if you prayed that prayer, something is shifting inside of you.
1:05:09
Speaker 1: Forgiveness is not a one time event, It is a journey.
1:05:13
Speaker 1: There may be days when the pain tries to creep
1:05:16
Speaker 1: back in, when bitterness knocks on the door of your heart,
1:05:19
Speaker 1: but every time it does, remind yourself that you have
1:05:23
Speaker 1: already surrendered it to God. And if this prayer has
1:05:26
Speaker 1: touched you, share this video with someone who needs to
1:05:29
Speaker 1: hear it. There is someone in your life right now
1:05:33
Speaker 1: who is struggling to forgive, someone carrying pain they don't
1:05:37
Speaker 1: know how to let go of. Be the person who
1:05:40
Speaker 1: helps them take the first step toward freedom. It is
1:05:43
Speaker 1: our prayer and hope that this video has given you
1:05:46
Speaker 1: not just understanding, but transformation. That the chains of the
1:05:50
Speaker 1: past are breaking, that the love of God is filling
1:05:53
Speaker 1: your heart in a new way. That to day is
1:05:56
Speaker 1: the day you finally walk in the peace you have
1:05:59
Speaker 1: been so woaching for. Stay blessed,