Before I found Christ I was a pretty I was the type of person who could never let go of a grudge. It's like forgiving someone was a concept that I could never grasp, for a time I even believed that forgiving someone only showed weakness. I hated my dad for his verbal abuse, I hated the kids who bullied me in middle school, and I had sworn that I would kill them if I ever saw them again. But one night I prayed that God would heal my soul, and then it hit me. I realized that I wasn't so innocent either. To me, these people were filled with nothing but pure evil and spite, but I forgot the most important thing, and that was, that they were just human, and so was I. We're not perfect, only God is. Yes, of course they were wrong to do what they did, but I was just as evil to hold a grudge against them like that.

When I let the grudges go and forgave them in my heart, it was the greatest thing I ever felt. Now I share a healthy relationship with my father, and I pray that the people who bullied me have also found Christ, so that hopefully, one day we'll meet again and we can bury that old hatchet. Maybe even become friends.

I love God more then anything now and I will confess his name till the day I die.

Very awesome! Great testimony. The power of forgiveness is strong.

Thank you

I'm extremely glad to hear this. That is a great blessing God has granted to you. All hail the King of glory!

Glad you're dedicated to praying for those who've wronged you in the past as well. Prayer is a great ministry and I'm sure it has accomplished a lot for those people.

thats awesome! i want to steal your personality and use it for me to get along with kids at school and my dad. you seriously have the forgiveness concept down. i envy you. God bless

Thats great! Forgiveness really does set the spirit free!!

I know we all go down this road. very inspiring.

It's also important to note how freeing the act of forgiveness is. Holding onto grudges can do so much harm to ourselves, can't it?

Bless you for following the Lord! May he continue to lead and teach you!

Tell me about it
Now I'm glad to know how true love feels, it's far superior to anything else I have ever felt.

I'm so happy for you, praise God!

As you said, the core of forgiving is realising that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23), and that Jesus, hanging on a cross, bloodied, bruised, betrayed, hated and dying, said "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

Your testimony reminds me of a sermon at a camp I went to. The chaplain was talking about grudges and forgiveness and told this story:

A first grade teacher told her students to bring in the next day one potato for every person they didn't like. The kids did so. Then, the teacher told them that they had to carry those potatoes around for the rest of the week. No matter where they went, they had to have those potatoes. By the end of the week, the kids were tired of hauling them around, and some of them were starting to go bad. The teacher taught them that those potatoes represented their hearts. Holding grudges and hatred made your heart spoil, and it's much better to not have to carry those around and deal with their ill effects.

That is a great illustration, Jbbrook!

Does anyone have anymore illustrations of forgiveness/unforgiveness?

God is working with me on this very same thing right now. Im just waiting for him to open my eyes.
And tell me about how free it is? It must be, grudges inside just hurts the whole time.
Can't wait till I understand how to deal with evil people, that freedom must be so great.