The Bible tells us: ‘Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well…But the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.”…Then they dug another well, and they quarrelled over that one also.…And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land”’ (Genesis 26:19-22 NKJV). It's a great example of forgiveness in action. During a drought, Isaac dug wells and his enemies moved in and claimed them. It wasn’t fair, but instead of retaliating, he moved on and dug new wells, and God blessed him greatly. When we refuse to forgive those who've hurt us, we're left feeling incomplete and empty. But when we choose forgiveness, God fills the emptiness we feel. As long as we share this planet with other imperfect human beings, we won't avoid being hurt. There's no way to avoid it. When the hurt goes deep, it can be really hard to forgive. That doesn't mean we should go around pretending that nothing's wrong and denying how we really feel. The first step towards healing is acknowledging our feelings. And Jesus gives us the second step: ‘Pray for those who mistreat you’ (Luke 6:28 NIV). When we do that, something unexpected happens. Our hearts soften and we start to see the other person through God’s eyes instead of through the (often misleading) lens of our own raw emotions. But what if we don’t actually want to forgive them? Then here's step three. We need to acknowledge our unwillingness to forgive and ask God to make us willing. Pray, ‘Restore me, and I will return.’

What Now?

If you’re struggling to forgive someone, try taking the steps in today’s reading: tell God how you’re really feeling, pray for the person you haven’t forgiven, and ask God to help you take the next steps on the path to forgiving them.