{"id":14497,"date":"2026-04-17T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=14497"},"modified":"2026-03-10T06:31:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:31:56","slug":"freely-forgiven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/freely-forgiven\/","title":{"rendered":"Freely Forgiven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus pauses after teaching the disciples the Lord\u2019s prayer to emphasize forgiveness. God requires us to show mercy to others if we want to receive it ourselves. We can\u2019t become more like the Savior if we don\u2019t learn to extend grace freely. Unforgiveness creates a barrier, hardening our hearts and blocking communication with the Lord. We can\u2019t accept mercy when we cling to resentment. Only when we forgive will we find freedom, aligning our hearts with the Mighty One and gaining a deeper understanding of grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some days require more grace than others. Preparing for a women\u2019s event, I had errands to run. My first act of grace came when a poor driver cut me off in traffic. Then I picked up a box of merchandise from one of my locations that had never made it to the sales floor during the busy season, forcing me to forgive the associate who had promised to take care of the items. Then I found out about a transfer to another store that never took place, which harmed my business and required another act of forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, the Lord helped me forgive quickly and keep the incidents in perspective. But I had to intentionally extend grace to people who didn\u2019t even realize they hurt me with their actions. Only by keeping my focus on the Savior could I find the grace necessary to release the offenses, pray for the offenders, and not let it harden my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big or small, we must choose to forgive. When we let go of our offenses, offering grace, it pleases the Lord. God wants to forgive us, but if we don\u2019t extend the same mercy to others, we can\u2019t receive it from the Creator. Imagine gripping a stone in a tight fist. We must open our hands and release the rock before we can receive anything else. In the same way, if we clutch unforgiveness in our hearts, we have no room for the forgiveness God wants to give us. We must release the offense before we can receive the gift of mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgiveness doesn\u2019t approve of the offender’s actions; it simply says the pain will no longer control your heart. Accept Jesus\u2019s invitation into freedom. Forgiveness releases us from the offender and ourselves. Bitterness chains us to the past; forgiveness opens the door to the future. And sometimes, we must forgive repeatedly, choosing daily to surrender to God\u2019s will and give Him our hurts as we accept His grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Is there resistance in my heart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What unforgiveness am I holding onto today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What area of my life do I need help submitting to God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reflect on how fully Christ has forgiven you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-minute read. Jesus pauses after teaching the disciples the Lord\u2019s prayer to emphasize forgiveness. God requires us to show mercy to others if we want to receive it ourselves. We can\u2019t become more like the Savior if we don\u2019t learn to extend grace freely. Unforgiveness creates a barrier, hardening our hearts and blocking communication with… Continue reading Freely Forgiven<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14501,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14497\/revisions\/14501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}