Posted by larry kershner on August 02, 1998 at 13:04:54:
In Reply to: Do I have to forgive before God forgives me? posted by Hazel on July 08, 1998 at 22:52:08:
Hazel...
I don't think the Lord would ever expect something from us that we cannot do...or that He has not yet freed us to do.
So with forgiveness...some hurts are just too tough to forgiver right away. I've had some that took years and others much of life before I could grant true forgiveness from my heart.
The key to the prayer is...are you willing to be obedient? If we can be honest enough with ourselves and tell the Lord that forgiveness is not something we can do right now, yet we wish to be obedient, then we can grant the Lord permission to begin working in our heart to bring forgiveness around. Not matter how long it takes, as long as you give the Lord permission to work.
The next step, is to also ask the our Lord to begin the process of healing the memory of that injury...you'll never forget the incident(s), and you probably shouldn't, but through His healing process...and it too will take time, we can get to the place where the remembrance of the act(s) will no longer negatively affect our reactions to others.
I hope that helps.