Losing

Well it's only the dead that can live
But still I wrestle with this
to lose the pain that's mine
Seventy times seven times
'Cause Lord it doesn't feel right
For me to turn a blind eye
Though I guess it's not that much
When I think of what You've done

This is love, this is hate...
We've got a choice to make

Oh, Father won't You forgive them?
They don't know what they've been doin' (oh no)
Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them
'Cause I feel like the one losin'
~ Losing by Tenth Avenue North

When someone hurts us or inflicts even the slightest of pain to us, when often remember this and don't forget. There are times where we may not think about it, but that is always in the back of our minds. We know the people that have hurt us and even though we forgive them, we struggle to do so at times and we struggle to forget what others have done to hurt us. Matthew 18:21-22 is where Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother or sister that sins against him. Jesus told him not just seven times, but seventy seven times. Even if one continues to sin against us we should continue to forgive them for every mistake that we make. Not only because it is right, but because we also sin against others and we want forgiveness from them.

Jesus went to the cross to take away our sins. Jesus told God that He should forgive those who are torturing Him because they don't know what they are doing. Because Jesus told God this we can't say that He doesn't know how we have been hurt and the pain we feel from the bad things that others do against us. God felt a great deal of pain when Jesus was being tortured because that was His only son that He sent so that He could die on the cross and take away our sins. We have the choice to make on whether we want to forgive someone for the pain they caused us or if we want to dislike them because of it. Hebrews 8:12 says, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." We ask God to forgive us and we should also ask Him to forgive others for they have sinned against us, but they don't know what they are doing. This is just like what Jesus asked when He was dying on the cross. The Hebrews verse tells us that God remembers their sins no more. We need His grace to help us forgive those that we struggle to find forgiveness for. At times when we struggle to forgive someone is when we feel like we are losing and so when we find it in us to forgive them we begin to feel better. It is because of God that we forgive others for what they have done.

Remember that God gives us the grace to forgive everyone and we just have to accept it and forgive them.
Justina Marie