P.S.
The last post was both difficult and a relief to write. It's been on my heart for a long time, but words weren't flowing eloquently about it until I decided to face it head on.
This whole forgiving the perpetrator thing is still not something I've mastered. But I'm glad to be able to say I'm working on it. I'm not just conveniently ignoring it anymore. I'm not accepting the party line of feeling like I don't have to like this person. That resentment is justified.
God's ways are not our ways. And He's calling me beyond "good enough" forgiveness to Christlike forgiveness.
I have a very sweet and wise friend who related to me that when she was struggling with forgiveness for an individual, it helped her immensely to memorize verses to remind herself of what God wanted from her. I've used this technique in lots of areas of my life (and it totally works), so I was like UM, DUH Sethswife. Why hadn't I done that yet? Probably because I wasn't ready yet to let go of feeling like a victim.
So I did a search on this site, which is very helpful in finding topical verses. I didn't just want to find "enemy" verses, because it's already easy for me to see this person as a villain and not a sibling in Christ. I found some that were familiar and some that truly surprised me, that I had never thought to apply to my situation but were exactly what I needed to hear. God's Word is perfect!
So to those who are struggling with me, here are the verses I'm hanging up around my house to memorize.
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you."
Proverbs 19:11 "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense."
Luke 7:36 "One of the Pharisees asked to eat with him (Jesus), and he went to the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table."
Proverbs 24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles."
Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you."
Luke 23:34 "And Jesus sad 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This whole forgiving the perpetrator thing is still not something I've mastered. But I'm glad to be able to say I'm working on it. I'm not just conveniently ignoring it anymore. I'm not accepting the party line of feeling like I don't have to like this person. That resentment is justified.
God's ways are not our ways. And He's calling me beyond "good enough" forgiveness to Christlike forgiveness.
I have a very sweet and wise friend who related to me that when she was struggling with forgiveness for an individual, it helped her immensely to memorize verses to remind herself of what God wanted from her. I've used this technique in lots of areas of my life (and it totally works), so I was like UM, DUH Sethswife. Why hadn't I done that yet? Probably because I wasn't ready yet to let go of feeling like a victim.
So I did a search on this site, which is very helpful in finding topical verses. I didn't just want to find "enemy" verses, because it's already easy for me to see this person as a villain and not a sibling in Christ. I found some that were familiar and some that truly surprised me, that I had never thought to apply to my situation but were exactly what I needed to hear. God's Word is perfect!
So to those who are struggling with me, here are the verses I'm hanging up around my house to memorize.
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you."
Proverbs 19:11 "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense."
Luke 7:36 "One of the Pharisees asked to eat with him (Jesus), and he went to the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table."
Proverbs 24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles."
Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you."
Luke 23:34 "And Jesus sad 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
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