Today in church we learned about forgiveness from two viewpoints from the offender and the offended. Forgiveness was defined as a decisive disciplined act of releasing the offender choosing not to retaliate based on offense (Bishop IV Hilliard). Personally the past couple of weeks have been a challenge in my life unlike I have ever seen. I felt like my character was in question. My husband would always say that you always care too much about what others think; you should say forget them, to put it nicely. I would walk around with the burden of being offended and sometimes believing I was the offender. See how the devil works, he will have you believing that you’re both, just conflicted. But God, always offers a way out, our response should be;

Response of the Offender:

• Be honest and admit it.
• Repent for sinning against God.
• Choose to make restitution where possible
• Establish guidelines to avoid facing again.
• Know who I am in Christ.
• Hold righteous course long term.

If Offended:

• Pinpoint the offense
• Protest the offense (confront)
• Pardon the offense
• Pain of the Offense (release it, take the blood of Jesus, Heb. 9:14)
• Protection from the offender ( I have to protect myself until you grow up and can be trusted)
  
  

I can never expect to be more or do more if i am holding to offense. I have heard he saying that not forgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It’s a vivid, but great analogy to describe unforgiveness as that poison that does more to harm me than it does someone else. Forgiving can only benefit me, releasing me from the pain that the situation once caused. In all of this, I have learned that being concerned with people who don't know all the facts should not even be a concern, because vindication does not come from them, I will have my reward testimony. Today's mantra is releasing the unforgiveness and allowing God to continuously pour blessings into my life.