The cross makes every year a year of celebration & freedom. Jesus death cancels our sin & gives us the freedom to be forgiving. What if we committed this whole year to be one where we set people free by loving them? That can happen through us if it happens to us.
There are three steps to a year of celebration. First, accept forgiveness from Christ. Second, ask for forgiveness from anyone you have hurt. Thirdly, forgive those who have used or hurt you.
Make a list of people who need your forgiveness. What does God want you to say & do for them that lets them know that they truly are forgiven. I have had to ask God to help me when I asked him to forgive some who have hurt me. The two that came to my mind were people who had already passed away.
Now there is no way my forgiving them could save them at this point, but it was an action that saved me. When you forgive someone who has wronged you Christ will lift that bitter hatred off your life.
The first person was my father who was an alcoholic. Even though he never hurt us physically he hurt us with his words & actions. As a child you want a father who loves you but I never heard my father utter those words until my 18th birthday. By that time I didn't believe him or give him any reciprocation. That was the last time I saw him because he died suddenly about a week later.
My uncle was the other person I had to forgive. When I was 20 years old he tried to molest me but I was able to escape. I never told anyone in my family because I knew it would be painful & he was a great help to my grandmother who lived right across the street from him. He also had passed away by the time I reached that place that I could honestly let it go.
I had to come to the realization that Christ had forgiven me for all my sins. God does not forgive us because WE are worthy but because Christ is. His blood on the cross covers us so that we can go to God. So those that you forgive may not be worthy of it but God wants you to forgive so that the blood of Christ can wash your spirit & mind.
So make this your year of celebration by accepting forgiveness for your sin & offering forgiveness to those who have hurt you.
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