Psalm 55:21: “His speech is smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.”
A batterer, an angry person, an unfaithful spouse, or some selfish person may have been a part of your life or may still be part of your life.
As you look back at your childhood, your nightmare marriage or divorce, or your adult years, you can’t believe the lies you accepted as truth.
You struggle to forgive yourself for trusting a person who didn’t earn your trust. You look in horror at the damage to your children and to yourself.
You remember those months of dating when everything seemed fine. Yes, “His speech [was] smooth as butter” and “his words [were] more soothing than oil.”
However, your home became a war zone, and you felt the drawn swords of his words and actions pierce your heart.
How do you recover?
Start with the most difficult step and that is to forgive the person for your own physical, emotional, and spiritual health. In Ephesians 4:32, the Bible says, “Forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” That forgiveness will be between you and God and doesn’t necessarily mean reconciliation.
God also said in Romans 12:19, “It is mine to avenge. I will repay.” For your own good, trust God to keep his word, and don’t try to take God’s place.
Dear God, help me forgive the person who hurt me or my family. Amen.
Application: What will you do this week to show that you trust God to keep his word?
Copyright © by Yvonne Ortega January 13, 2014
