“Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him [drop the issue, let it go], so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions and wrongdoings [against Him and others].” Mark 11:25 AMP

Offering forgiveness to someone who has hurt us is perhaps one of the most difficult things we must do during our life here on earth. Everyone has their own boundaries when it comes to trusting other people, but regardless of where those boundaries lay, when we feel they’ve been crossed it can leave a significant scar on our hearts, minds, and spirits. In the face of this kind of pain, often our strongest instinct is to increase and double the size of our broken boundary.

There is a major downside to this path, however…well, there are several downsides, actually. The first thing to consider is that God commands us time and time again throughout the Bible to choose the path of forgiveness. That means that it is for our best good to make that choice. It also means that Satan will do whatever he can to convince us to take the more destructive path. He knows that in doing so, we become more distanced from our Father in heaven, which is his prime directive in every attack waged against us. Do you really want to choose the path the adversary wants you to choose, or do you want to go the way of the Lord??

“Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 AMP

Something else to consider is how much we all lose by refusing to forgive one another. For me, intent has a lot to do with how easy or hard I find forgiveness. When someone extremely close to me (and there is only a very small handful in this category) does something I consider a breach of trust, breaks a promise that was important to me, or behaves in a way that feels deeply hurtful, I have to take a step back and make the decision to listen to their side of things. I have to be willing to accept that they are every bit as human as I am.

If what was said or done was without malicious intent, if it came out of true ignorance or a lack of understanding of how it would make me feel, then it isn’t reasonable for me to hold on to my anger and remain unforgiving. In that circumstance, especially if the relationship is one of great importance in my life and one that was orchestrated into existence by God, then not only do I need to make the choice to forgive, but I need to consider if my anger at their mistake is worth throwing away what has been a precious gift from my Heavenly Father. I can assure you that the one who has the most to gain by making the latter choice is the enemy. Remember, his primary goal is to destroy anything that God has created.

Yes, there are some circumstances when we must forgive, but that doesn’t mean we remain close to the person we are forgiving. If there was malicious intent, or they made a choice to knowingly do something that would cause us pain and heartbreak, we need to make a different kind of choice regarding the relationship. But I encourage you to exercise caution when you’re choosing to throw people out of your life. When we turn our backs on someone who truly loves us and wants desperately to make amends for what has happened, we need to first consider the value of that relationship in our lives. There are times when it is worth the risk to allow them a chance to continue loving us, and to continue loving them in return.

“Bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.” Colossians 3:13 AMP

The bottom line is that we can all look back on our lives…heck, we can probably look back on the last few days and find a few things we wish we hadn’t said or done. I don’t know about you, but I find things every single day I must lay at my Father’s feet and ask His forgiveness in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ. How blessed I am that every single time I do that, I am immediately forgiven!! What a gift that we all have a loving God who never EVER chooses to leave us behind. It is my most sincere prayer for all of you that you will feel the love of God cover your spirit like a warm blanket today…that you will feel the power of forgiveness, and you will begin to see that choosing to forgive is a simultaneous praise of the Father and slap in the face of Satan. Please don’t let the enemy maintain his grip on your heart and mind by keeping you angry. Choose freedom on the path of forgiveness…