8/31/20 9:55 AM
Let’s talk about forgiveness. As sinners, this is a really difficult subject in general. I’m just going to specifically talk about forgiving your friends. Part of being a Godly friend is loving through the hurt. This can mean you’re hurting from something your friend did, but you choose to overcome that pain and love them despite this. The keyword is choose. Forgiveness is something you have to actively work on because it goes against what the world typically tells us to do.
We live in a world that is full of cancel culture, which I bring up often on the podcast, encouraging us to just cut our losses and move on. Just think where we would be if God had done that? What if after the first sin was committed God just gave up and wiped out Adam and Eve and started over? That’s not love. God chose to forgive them showing the ultimate act of love and grace.
Our friends will mess up. You will mess up. There will be times where you act like a bad friend and hurt their feelings. But in Proverbs 17:9 it says, “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” I cannot simplify this any more than it is already done so. When you forgive your friends and you choose to move on and love them anyway, you are prospering a loving, God-honoring friendship that is built to last.
On the opposite side of this, if you choose to dwell in your pain and just sit in self-pity because your friend hurt you, it will cause separation that is difficult to close. Yes, it’s important to allow yourself to feel your feelings, but we are not called to dwell in them and feel bad for ourselves because of something so worldly. Talk it out with your friend. Address the issue and bring light to what hurt you, but then actively work on forgiving them and they should actively work on fixing the problem.
If you want your friendships to last and be healthy and constantly growing, you must learn that forgiveness and love go hand in hand and they are both choices we have to make daily. I pray that you give your whole heart to God and allow him to do incredible work. I pray that you are able to choose to forgive as Christ would.
Praying,
Addison Wimbish
