Thursday, February 29, 2024
“Forgive Someone”
Who do you need to forgive? On this Leap Day, .06% of the world’s population will celebrate a birthday. Their last birthday was four years ago when in 2020, there were 69 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in the United States. Remember that? It seems like an eternity ago, and yet, that’s the last time our Leap Year friends had a birthday.
How is this related to offering someone forgiveness? Because many of us were personally harmed by someone that long ago, and we still haven’t been able to offer them forgiveness. Oh, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to contact that person and offer forgiveness. Instead, I’m suggesting that we spend some time today praying for that person, while also discovering a way to forgive them in our hearts.
As we’ve explored some of this stuff in earlier devotions this year, we don’t need to be reminded about how long we’ve carried the emotional and spiritual pains on our shoulders. The weight is unbearable, yet still, that person remains unforgiven and in control of more than we care to admit.
It’s been four years since some of our friends and loved ones have experienced birthdays. Yet it’s been much longer than that when someone harmed us, and we’ve yet to find it in our hearts to forgive them for the awful thing they did to us and our loved ones. The time for worrying about it is over. We’ve already given them way too much of our lives and it’s time to unload the burden.
Today, forgive someone for the offense they committed against us. Even if they remain an enemy in our minds, the unburdening of our hearts will give us back something we’ve lost long ago: Peace.
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37, NLT)
