My meeting with God taught me that with God everything is Grace. Our very existence is by His Grace. If He stopped thinking about us for one second, we would cease to exist. He is constantly pouring out His love and grace upon us. There is a saying “There but for the grace of God go any one of us”. Truly, it is by His grace that we are where we are in life. When I had my life review, I never felt as though I was being judged. God does not judge us, we judge ourselves standing before Him. But, as I watched my life passing before me, in my life review, I saw everything I ever said or did and there was no sense of remorse or guilt. All I felt was complete love and total acceptance. There was no sense of being held bound by any past events nor were there any feelings of anger or resentment or any unresolved issues tying me down and keeping me trapped in time. All had been forgiven. I had let go of everything. I had been forgiven. I learned that forgiveness is the freedom of letting go, that the “letting go”, was a journey of healing for my body and for my soul. It’s a journey because some hurts take a lifetime to forgive and we just can’t do it on our own.
We need God to help us. But the WILL to forgive is the first step. Forgiveness is a process and it takes time, sometimes it takes years, and in some cases a lifetime. I learned that forgiveness is a creative act that takes us from prisoners of the past with hurtful memories, to strong, loving people living in the present who are free of the chains that kept us bound, and are now at peace. There is peace because all of the unresolved issues, and the hurt, and bitterness are gone which brings peace to the soul and harmony to one’s life. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting the wrong that was done to us; it means no longer feeling the pain that was done. If we hold on to the bitterness and the hurt and the unforgiveness, it becomes a chain that keeps us held bound. We don’t have to forgive others. It is not a requirement. But if we want to be free and we want to heal from the hurts of life, then it is something that we need. Normally, the other party, or parties involved really don’t care if they are forgiven, especially if they haven’t asked for forgiveness. In most cases, they have gone on with their lives, completely oblivious to the devastation, and the hurt still left in our heart. That’s why forgiveness is important; it breaks those chains and frees our heart. We need it in order to grow, otherwise we become stuck. When we become stuck we no longer feel God’s grace. Of course, His Grace is always there, it is constant, it is unending, it is eternal, and it is for everyone, but because we have become stuck, we just don’t feel it anymore. And then, we begin feeling the illusion that God has abandoned us.
We need to allow forgiveness to flow through us and around us; and when we are aware that we are now free from those chains that held us bound, we are free to love unconditionally and we can send that unconditional love out into the world around us. Then, the natural flow of God’s divine love dissolves all the hurt, all the bitterness, all the pain and the sense of being wronged. Then, we can allow His grace to come to us and flow through us, to forgive through us. Then, there is no more of the illusion of separation, no more feelings of abandonment.
Forgiveness is the greatest form of love. Love is an act of endless forgiveness. It is a gift that God gives us and it is through His grace that we experience this gift.
Sharon Milliman (c) 2016