Forgiveness - Joel Osteen Quote

"The reporter stared at him in disbelief. He finally asked, "Rudy, tell me, how'd you do it? How could you possibly forgive that man who hurt you so badly?"


Rudy replied, "I knew if I wanted to move on with my life, I had to let it go. I didn't do it for him. I did it for me. I did it so I could be free." 


That's good advice. You need to forgive so you can be free. Forgive so you can be happy. Forgive so you can get out of that bondage. We have to remember, when we forgive we're not doing it just for the other person, we're doing it for our own good. When we hold on to unforgiveness and we live with grudges in our hearts, all we're doing is building walls of separation. We think we're protecting ourselves, but we're not. We are simply shutting other people out of our lives. We become isolated, alone, warped and imprisoned by our own bitterness. Those walls aren't merely keeping people out; those walls are keeping you penned in. 


Do you realize that those walls will also prevent God's blessings from pouring into your life? Those walls can stop up the flow of God's favor. The walls of forgiveness will keep your prayers from being answered. They'll keep your dreams from coming to pass. You must tear down the walls.You must forgive the people who hurt you so you can get out of prison. You'll never be free until you do. Let go of hose wrongs they've done to you. Get that bitterness out of your life. That's the only way you're going to truly be free. You will be amazed at what can happen in your life when you release all that poison."


--- p.161, Your Best Life Now, Joel Osteen


Comment: To see how much you have forgiven a person, you can picture him standing in front of you in your mind. Can you face him and talk to him? Or you don't want to face him at all and feel like or see an invisible wall between you and him?