Hey girl hey! Welcome back to TELL ME BOUT IT where we dive into God's word about real life struggles we face! This week, wait for it, we are covering one of the hardest yet most influencing acts we can do or refuse to do...FORGIVENESS!

Last week we talked about being offended (find that talk here), so we thought we would give the solution to dealing with that offense in this week's segment.

Y'all can find this week's recording on our YouTube channel, or click here to stream our podcast directly from our site, or subscribe to our podcast here on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Play.

Forgiveness Defined: stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake.

What is the purpose of forgiveness? To move past something that has hurt us. 

Why forgive? 

• Lack of forgiveness is like a bad apple in your soul: it affects EVERYTHING. 
• Lack of forgiveness is like a splinter that isn't dealt with. It's infected, annoying, and festering. 
• We forgive for US to be free, not others. 
• We are representatives of CHRIST and He set the HIGHEST example of forgiveness! He freely gives it, so should we. 
• Forgiveness is a part of our KINGDOM identity! WHO do you want to be?

Why do we NOT forgive?

• Built up pride
• Remaining offense
• Human nature, selfishness

HOW do we forgive?

• A LOT of prayer
• Forgiveness is a CHOICE
• Be honest with yourself and seek truth
• Get to the source of the pain and take it to the Lord
• Create healthy boundaries if needed
• Pray for patience, it doesn't always happen overnight!

There is a difference between forgiveness and justice! 

• Why would we wish bad judgment on someone else? That makes us just as bad and in need of forgiveness!
• It's GOD's job to judge and serve justice, not ours. It's our job to just forgive.

There's a difference in forgiveness and being passive:

• Don't be foolish; you can forgive but separate yourself from a situation.
• Forgiveness is not "soft"
• Pray about if God is using a forgiving situation to close a door or separate you from a toxic person/situation in your life! 

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act, its a constant attitude." -Martin Luther King Jr. 

"God is SO extra...He doesn't just love, He is love ITSELF." -Sarah Collins (lol)