One of my favourite lines in the Bible.
We love each other, because HE first loved us.
HE has shown us HOW to love. No excuses. None at all.
When Jesus was on earth, His entire life was to show US how to live and love – the weak, the marginalized, the unlovely, the unwanted, the adulterer, women, children, the tax collectors, the gentiles .. He turned everything upside down! He died for us, when WE deserved death. WOW! What a man, What a God!
So, when we find it’s so hard to love our abuser, our perpetrator, the one who left us, abandoned us, hurt us, killed the ones we love, the one we don’t want to forgive, the one who swindled us, who lied to us, who gossips about us, who manipulates us, who holds us captive, who hits us, who controls us ..
We find ourselves looking to HIM to help us love and forgive. {That doesn’t mean ‘to stay’ with the one who is hurting us} But to take courageous steps to get into a healthy and whole place in your life .. and then CHOOSE to forgive those who have hurt you. To love them ..
BE strong and courageous. He is with you always.