"I have"
We have all been in situations where we have done wrong and desire forgiveness—from a spouse, family member, friend, or even a co-worker. Sometimes the person we most need forgiveness from is ourselves. And then there are the times when someone is asking us for forgiveness, and we have to look deeply in ourselves to offer it, no strings attached. It's hard! Whether you are giving or receiving forgiveness, it's a very powerful thing.
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' " Matthew 18:21-22
Some time ago a friend in Bali (we've been friends since college), whom we haven't been in contact for quite some time, suddenly texted me and forwarded a text she got from someone, in which the content of the text was about me which was described very badly.
She knows, everything told in the text was not true. She knew that Ita, whom she had known for so long, couldn't possibly do something like that. In the end, we laughed about it.
Not long after, I received another forwarded text message (with the same content) from another friend of mine. OMG. I don't know to how many people this message has been sent to.
I thanked them for forwarding that slanderous texts to me. They trust me more than a total stranger who sent them the text and said somethin cruel about their good friend.
They suggested me to contact the sender of those slanderous messages and confront what he had done to me. With gratitude for their sincere concern I refuse to do so, as it would be pointless for me to explain.
I choose to think that the sender of the message, who by the nature of his job is to create characters and write stories, at that time he was creating an imaginative character and he named that character as Ita. He described the character as a woman who likes to control, interferes with the lives of those around her, is very demanding, jealous and fussy. This imaginative character is what he shared to my friends.
That is not me. Even my friends knew it wasn't me. So, it's useless for me to explain to the world that it's not me. If the world chooses to believe it is the real Ita, then that's their right, because believing is a decision.
What people think about me is none of my business!
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
Forgiving | Do you know what that is, to forgive?
Its a decision we make to release a person from the feeling of anger we have at them. Its strange. Its hardest of all to forgive someone we love.
"Are you having a hard time forgiving?"
"I am"
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