When my mother established her ministry- Lord of Life Ministries, one of
the things she devoted her studies to was Forgiveness vs Unforgiveness.
She wrote so many papers on the subject and now, I know why.
When my mother passed, I became more aware of my own lack of
longevity. I did a serious assessment and decided that the saying, "LIFE IS
TOO SHORT" is not just a cliché. It's a fact. No matter how many years you
or I have (left), life really is too short to hold grudges, to be unforgiving or to
have malice in our hearts.
Do you have any idea how sick you can become by holding bitterness in
your heart? To stay in a state of anger and unrest over something someone
did is physically, mentally and SPIRATUALLY unhealthy.
Yes, there have been disagreements between me and my friends from time
to time but REAL FRIENDS can mend differences. We can get past them.
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me;” can have far more value than pride. What is
pride worth, if you lose a friend? Real friends know that the words
"I'm sorry" have great impact and value. When spoken with humility and
sincerity, mountains of hurt and anger fall. If I value you as a friend, I make
sure I say them when I need to.
I can remember being upset with one friend for years and when I look back
over why; we wasted a lot of time. I am grateful that GOD opened the door
for us to be friends again and we are tighter than ever even though she is
hundreds of miles away.
I am grateful to God that any riff that existed between me and some of my
FAMILY is gone! We talk now, like the mature adults we are and it has
brought us closer. We even had the courage to talk about what caused the
riff in the first place. I don't want to live with the regret of not spending time
with family over something that happened YEARS ago.
Unforgiveness clouds your vision. Grudges are like heavy weights that can
burden you down. Want to lose weight? FORGIVE SOMEBODY.
It is so freeing! I'm not perfect. If God can forgive them, who am I to stay
spiteful? AND if He can forgive me, who am I to keep my heart hardened
against them? “…Forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE those who
trespass against us.” Powerful words in the Lord’s Prayer that also have a
small warning we should not ignore.
As family members leave this earth, I have become more aware of how
important it is to spend time with them and REALLY get to know the person
they are NOW and not who they were. Unless it's a pleasant memory, it's
better to leave the past in the past. “JUST KEEPING IT REAL”
In The Spirit of Truth,
RuNett Nia Ebo, P.O.P.