7 * 70

Matthew 18:22 (CEBA)Jesus said, “Not just seven times, but rather as many as seventy-seven times

I began this writing yesterday at Starbucks and am finishing it today. Shout outs first to some people! Julie, thanks for getting my hat on the floor. Mike, nice speaking with you again! Thanks for accepting another card for your friend Stephanie! 
Stephanie, I pray you will be encouraged by the writings! Keema thanks for trying to help! I pray for you three ladies, and Mike that you will get encouragement from my writings!

Today I am going to write about something I am pretty sure I touched a little on about before. But, I am revisiting the subject again. I'm planning on getting more in-depth with my deep thoughts on this subject. Let's dive in!

I heard somewhere once. "Forgiveness is NOT letting 

someone off the hook. It's letting someone off of your hook, but handing the hook to God."

Just because you choose to forgive, doesn't mean 

what happened is okay. Do people think like that? I may tell people I forgive them, but then it just seems like the people think what they did was okay. So, they repeat it again. Are they then expecting to be forgiven again? Answer is

of course if they do something against me again, I probably should be willing to forgive them again. Really, what they should be doing is learning from their mistake the first time. They should have the goal of not repeating what they did. 

My husband told me before one time that when something bad happens, like if someone hurt him in some way, he does something. What he does is he forgets about it. Perhaps he does choose to forgive the person, but he also forgets about it.

My deep thoughts on that was that I didn't think we should forget about it. Yes, of course we should definitely forgive. However, we should not forget until we are truly okay with everything. And, God allows it to disappear from our minds. 

It will just disappear from your memory. I also believe that the evil one likes to occasionally pop in that memory every now and then. When that happens, open your mouth and rebuke him in Jesus's name! If we already forgave the person, then we have to tell Satan that we already forgave the person. 
Stop trying to remind me! In Jesus name!  That's my thoughts about forgetting in this case.

We read one-time some wise words from one of our nightly devotions this, " Forgivenes 
is not forgetting. The action did happen and is a part of the fabric of our relationship." Now, what are you guys thinking?

I guess God doesn't want us to forget. He definitely wants us to be forgiving but not to forget. I appreciated that wise counsel. I was not 100% sure about my thought. However, thank you Lord for leading us to a devotion like that. It really gave me much more clarity on the subject of forgetting.

Forgiveness is NOT about being quiet. Fellow wives, just some words of advice.When your husband does something to tick you off, and we, wives choose to be forgiving. Or, we may choose not to be? We should definitely never do this. We never should be quiet. Your husband cannot read your mind. Believe me, there is a humongous chance that his mind will just be filled with thoughts that may be untrue but they may definitely be upsetting to him. So how do we, wives avoid that? The answer is don't be quiet. You know how we don't like the silent treatment?

If you are quiet, your husband may just think you are mad. If you are mad you should address it. If you're not mad you should address it. Let your husband know exactly how you are feeling. 

I remember hearing from my friend, Donna. She is also a wife, and sister in Christ. She gave me some wise advice. When I get into a disagreement or argument with my husband, I should use the words I feel. 

For example, say my husband does something that hurt me. What I should say to him is, " I feel that was a very unloving thing you did... Was there something I did that made you feel disrespected?" ( Try that. Just a little side advice for fellow wives :-)

Believe me I know, forgiveness is not an easy thing to do. I know it's definitely not something I choose to do all the time. But I have to. And, I don't. At least not right away. Only by the grace of God am I able to forgive something that seems unforgivable.

I will say that when I let  go of harboring so much pain. And, I do choose to forgive, a wave of relief comes over me. I can't explain it. I just feel so much more relaxed. I feel like I can breathe normal again. I feel like the yucky clutter that was in my mind opens up and can welcome thoughts available for God. I know forgiveness is so difficult. The fact that we chose to forgive and was obedient to God is exactly what he wans. 

We need to choose to forgive. Trust and have the faith that God will help us through! Believe that he's got this!

Chris August: 7 * 70