The Power of Forgiveness: What Does Your Heartbeat Sound Like?
Living Free Every Day®
A ministry of LivingFree.org
Scripture
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NIV
Thoughts for the Day
We often think of forgiveness as a feeling—something we either "feel" strong enough to do or we don’t. But real forgiveness has very little to do with how we feel and everything to do with who God is.
Forgiveness is God's heartbeat.
Ruth Graham writes that she didn't begin to understand the power and depth of forgiveness until her carefully masked pain was shaken by a life-altering trauma. What followed wasn't a quick-fix moment of healing but an apprenticeship—a journey of learning forgiveness, slowly, under the care of the Master.
Forgiveness is not natural. It's supernatural. It’s not forgetting. It's remembering—with a purpose to pardon. It’s not dependent on someone else being sorry. It’s a decision we make because of the forgiveness we've already received.
Consider This . .
Do you see forgiveness as a skill you can develop over time—or do you expect it to come easily? Are you holding back because you’re waiting for someone to make it right first? Maybe you’ve buried pain so deep you hardly remember it’s there—until a moment or memory resurrects it. God doesn’t want your wounds hidden. He wants to heal them. And forgiveness is often the scalpel He uses.
You may not feel like a “forgiveness expert”—but you can be an apprentice. God invites you to walk with Him daily, learning to forgive as He forgives. Not instantly, but intentionally. Not in your own strength, but through His Spirit.
Prayer
Father, thank You for forgiving me fully and freely in Christ. Teach me to forgive, not because it’s easy or fair, but because it’s Your heartbeat. Help me walk as an apprentice to Jesus, learning from Your Word, guided by Your Spirit. Where my heart is hard, soften it. Where wounds are buried, uncover them with care. Make my heart beat in rhythm with Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen...
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