Photo Credit: Renee Fisher
What I’m about to share with you today is coming from 16years of my life history. Have you ever found yourself in that place where Paul the apostle found himself? Have you, like I have, for over a decade endured a toxic relationship that repeatedly poked at you, kicked and bullied you?
Have you ever found yourself in a tight corner, unable to move, you feel you haven’t forgiven the ill and the offender. You feel you that you probably have but feel bad that you cannot forget. So you forgive yet again. You beat yourself up for forgiving mentally but not emotionally. You, like me, are yet to realise that sometimes the mind can forgive while your emotions struggle to catch up.
You, like me, are about to realise that it is okay to forgive and say goodbye as well. You don’t have to keep up with a toxic relationship. You don’t have to put up with someone who constantly irritates you, or is obsessively envious of you and wants to be you, someone whose sole goal is to constantly manipulate you. Someone who never forgives, never forgets, and repeatedly opens old wounds.
You forgive him/her today and you forgive him/her next year. And the story remains the same. They stalk you. They sniff you out. They spread ill about you. They tease you and reel out sarcasms at every given opportunity. They unrelentingly continue to bring out the worse in you. They are a thorn in your flesh. Take them out. Say goodbye. Yes, it is okay to forgive and say goodbye.
Forgiveness is not braggadocio. It is not synonymous to machismo. To forgive doesn’t mean you should foolishly put up with poison. Forgiveness is not toughness. It is simply what it is, it is forgiveness. So forgive the leech but cut it off. Forgive the thorn, and then take it out. Forgive the snake but don’t just flush out the poison, cutoff the serpent!
Yes, you can forgive and say goodbye.
Stop being deceived: "Wicked friends lead to evil ends." - 1 Corinthians 15:33, International Standard Version.
2 Timothy 4:14 -18
Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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