Hooray!

The first official, official post for

Wifey Wednesday has finally arrived.

I’m am so excited to begin this journey with you!!

The idea of Forgiving Freely comes to us via my pin The Ways of an Enjoyable Wife by Kaylene Yoder.

In her post, Kaylene refers to Colossians 3:13

“Bear with one another and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13

I’m not good at this. I know in my heart it is the right thing to do.

To forgive whatever grievances I may have toward my Mr. Right.

I think where I get stuck is in the letting it go part.

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs

1 Corinthians 13:4

Mr. Right doesn’t deserve to have old hurts come back to haunt him, and I don’t deserve to let those things live inside of me, eating away at my happiness, at our happiness.

Everything we say and do to and towards one another leaves a mark; some are easily forgotten and moved on from quickly, others tend to stick around for awhile.

I once saw a lesson about hurting others; it was a bullying lesson I think.

It goes like this;

Take a nice, new piece of paper.

Crinkle it up, shout at it, say mean things to it

When you’re finished, open that paper and smooth it out and tell it you’re sorry. Tell it you forgive it for being or doing whatever it did or said.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot get the wrinkles and crinkles out of that paper.

It will never be smooth and unblemished again. 

The harm you caused it stays, no matter how hard you try to change or correct what you did to it.

It would take quite some time for that paper to look better. For it to be flat again or something resembling flat.

Forgiveness is kind of like that crinkled piece of paper.

You can say you’re sorry, you can try to make amends but, the scars remain and may take a really long time to heal.

BUT

♥ Forgiveness is realizing those hurts are going to be there and will take time to begin to heal, but forgiveness also means you are choosing to not allow those crinkles and wrinkles of hurt dictate how you behave toward one another.

♥ Everything we do and say leaves some sort of mark. Choose love, kindness, gentleness, tenderness FIRST

♥ I get to chose to forgive.  I know those marks are going to be there but I CHOSE LOVE over those marks of hurt. It doesn’t mean what I experience doesn’t matter.

♥It means I find appropriate ways to express those hurts. If I choose to hold onto the hurt and not forgive, then I suffer right along with Mr. Right. Forgiveness means I approach the hurts through good communication, compromise, and with gentleness, not bitterness, anger, and vengeance.

♥ Forgiveness isn’t about the other person. It isn’t about Mr. Right as crazy as that may sound. I think of it this way: I can’t swallow poison and expect someone else to be sick. Holding onto anger and hurt only poisons me.

♥ Forgiveness is about me. It’s about learning, loving, and living life to the fullest even with those wrinkles and crinkles. It frees me from the bitterness that can arise. It helps guide me to the letting go part. It allows me to begin to heal from hurts and not lug them around.

♥ Forgiveness means I’m hurt but I’m choosing to love completely; I’m choosing to not allow the hurt to become a weapon sometime down the road in order to hurt Mr. Right for the hurt he may have caused.

♥ Forgiveness is a simple thing, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Trust me, it isn’t always easy. It is often the most simple of things which are usually the most difficult to do. Walking the right path can often be difficult because we are human and our instincts are to lash out.

Till Next Week,

♥ R

What part of forgiveness is most difficult for you?