I came across this verse recently, and it was one of those wow moments, as I thought about the difficulty of forgiveness.

Invoke blessing upon and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God’s blessing upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and high-handedly misuse you]. Luke 6:28

In my experience, it’s hardest to forgive when your feelings are involved.

But you can forgive someone even if you don’t feel like it. You can even forgive them without their apology.

Continue to pray over them and practice forgiveness, and your emotional response will catch up.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean no longer being hurt by one’s actions, it means releasing the chains of destruction that their actions are holding over you.

To curse means to speak evil of, and to bless means to speak well of. When someone has hurt us, we can refuse to speak evil of them, even if we’re tempted to do so.

You can literally bless someone through forgiveness.

We can also bless them by talking about their good qualities and the good things they have done.

Here’s the thing, we’ve already learned how to do it scared, but what I’ve learned over the years is that there’s also power when we do it hurt

The act of forgiveness is to walk the narrow road of Christ. It puts you on the road that Jesus traveled.

You may want to feel better first, but God wants you to do what is right first… which is to forgive.

It’s in that act of forgiveness that God restores your heart as you place your trust back in Him.

He will bless you when you bless others.

xx – the Wife