Forgiveness is free

The biggest thing about being hurt is getting through to the healing.  Finding your way again.  When silenced recovering your voice.  It means forgiving.  And forgiveness was given freely to us, wasn't it? On that bloody cross so long ago.

So forgive freely.  Well just ask me to empty the ocean one bucket at a time why don't ya?

Let it go. Really? While they walk around, without remorse or a thought about MY hurt?

yes. yes. yes. YES!

Forgiveness is given freely, trust needs to be earned again.  Or not at all. 

Forgiving was hard for me. I had fallen for a lie about it. That forgiving someone meant I needed, wanted or should want a relationship with them.  I can forgive someone, freely and with grace, and not seek, desire or feel a need to have a relationship with them.

Then forgiveness becomes easier because it is our giving them up to God.  For God to deal with. As God should be. As is His right. And honour. And we are not less for it. We are more! So much more!

Think about it this way - our hurt is a pile of rocks. Someone threw them at us. They wounded us. Landed at our feet.  We look at those rocks. We feel them. We carry them around. They are SO HEAVY!

Instead of carrying around those rocks, we can leave them at the foot of the cross. For Jesus to take care of. Each stone, each hurt, each memory surrendered in love to the One who can heal us and restore us!

And when we leave them there we weigh less in spirit. We are not carrying around things that are not ours. Never were ours. Do not belong to us. Forgiveness is for us!  Repeat that, forgiveness is for us!

We are forgiven. And we can forgive. Both are free. And both are freeing.

Trust is earned. Trust is something we can choose to work on, or to let be.

God blessed me by freeing me from a family who had strong beliefs and traditions about revenge and holding grudges. Generational grudges. Generational revenge.  I can surrender them to God. Often many times they are freely surrendered to God as I work on my own heart. My own voice.

It is easy to say, "I forgive you." when you know that you do not need to assume a relationship, unless it is something God wills.  It is easier to say, "Go with God." when you know you don't have to walk their path. It is their path, after all. Just as your path belongs to you.

Your voice, your lovely amazing voice is something that is so much more beautiful when it is honeyed with forgiveness and grace.  Especially when you are using that voice speaking to yourself and to God!

God loves you. He loves your voice. He loves every piece of you that He wove together. Trust that.

Do not be afraid, but speak, 

and do not keep silent. 

 Acts 18:9

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I wrote a poem about forgiveness on one of my blogs, you can read it here: Forgiveness Poem

Linking up with Jo Ann Fore and the lovely ladies celebrating Our Voices!

We have taken The Pledge, and invite you to join us!

We are reading the book, and can't wait for you to join us on October 8!

We are supporting, hearing and sharing our voices, join us won't you?

The celebrations will be on Facebook and you can search for it with this hashtag: #WhenAWomanFindsHerVoice on both Twitter and Facebook!