St. Matthew 5:44 - "Love your enemies." :

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Personal Interpretation: By forgiving those that hate you and have hurt you, and loving them, instead, you are actually healing yourself.  It means that you are taking a great load off your shoulders, and a lot of stress out of your life, which is actually better for you.

If you spend your whole life hating someone, it will fester like a wound, and eat you alive inside, until there was nothing left but hate, and hate is a waste of time and often ends in tragedy, if only small tragedies.  Believe me, I know from personal experience that holding a grudge doesn't do anyone any good.  This is not the path that God has meant for us.

I have held many grudges over my life-span.  All they do is make you obsess over the person who has hurt you.  They take up all of your time, and they make you very unhappy.  It took me years to realize this.

I Believe: God teaches us to forgive because he wants us to be happy and at peace with ourselves.  Why?  Because He loves us.  The very act of forgiving allows us to heal ourselves of the hurt and pain that our 'enemy' has caused us.  In the act of forgiving, we let go of our problems and give them to Jesus.  Why worry about it?  Let God worry about it, and everything will fall into place as time goes on.  After all, Jesus was known for taking on many people's problems and solving them quite effectively through the love of the Father and faith.

Why not follow the examples of Jesus?  Here was a man that was persecuted by many, and constantly mocked wherever he went.  And yet, he forgave them, because he loved them, and, most-likely, because it allowed him to focus on his missionary work and not be bogged down with hate.

Another good reason to forgive is that it is likely that the person who is hurting you is in a lot of pain, themselves, and, because of that, they are bitter, and do not want anyone to be happy.  You see?  It's a cycle.  Wherever hate goes, it spreads, but wherever love goes, it also spreads.

Out of forgiveness also comes love for the person who hurt you who might be in pain.  God teaches us to love those who are suffering, even strangers.  He teaches us to have sympathy for the wrong-doers among us because it is likely that, if they are hurting, they are doing what they do out of grief and suffering, not out of spite towards you, and, if that is the case, they desperately need to be loved and lifted up.

When I was first diagnosed with schizophrenia with bi-polar disorder, my whole life went into disaray.  I stopped believing in God, and, even though I never meant it, I started being unkind to people.  There were many things that I did out of grief.  I may never have really physically hurt someone, but I came close a couple times.  If I wasn't happy, I guess I didn't want to see anyone else be happy either, because it felt as though they were mocking me and didn't understand.  But, after a while, when things calmed down, I got better.

If we forgive, we are blessed with the gift of healing, and, in sharing that love, we make the world a little brighter.

But, sometimes, we need a little help.  If you find it hard to forgive someone, sometimes, it helps to pray to God to take on our burdens.  God loves us all, and because he is All-Powerful, he can take on all the burdens of the world.

If you find it hard to forgive, pray.  God is listening, and He loves you very much.  There is never a time when God does not listen, for all of his children are important to him, including you.

God Bless You & Keep You,

child_of_faith

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