[SteveD]

Kiti,

Thank you for sharing your post on "Forgiving".

"Forgiveness" is always a subject that touches my heart.

I share this when I tell my story ... how back in the day I boxed. In an Olympic qualification match there was a freak accident that resulted in the death of my opponent. I lived with guilt, shame and night terrors for decades. Then I met up with an old friend I knew back when that all happened. She was a Christian missionary. I told her how I had been having night terrors for so many decades and the guilt I still felt. I told her how I asked God for forgiveness but I still felt the guilt and shame and still had the night terrors. I told her how I was still asking God to forgive me.

She basically told me, "You asked God to forgive you and he did. The Bible tells us this.
But then you continued to ask God to forgive you over and over.

Just imagine how confused you would feel if someone asked for your forgiveness and you told them you forgave them. Then they continued to ask you for your forgiveness over and over every single day. You'd most likely feel confused and maybe even feel like that person didn't really believe you forgave them. You'd likely feel confused. You might even feel like that person didn't have any faith in you."

That was a life changing moment of growth and development. It allowed me to really let go of my burdon I'd been dragging around all those years and really turn it over to God when I asked Him for forgiveness. I was graced with a feeling of freedom then that still lasts for me. God is big.