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On this page, I will share some of the valuable “life lessons” that I am learning myself
or that others have shared with me.
I am what people would call a “born again Christian” and
Jesus is the most important Person in my life.
I am still working on a format for this page, but I would like to start by sharing a particular lesson
I learned some time ago, because I think this one is useful in online investing as well!
About ... Forgiving
A while ago, we had a sermon in our church about accepting injustice. A tough subject!
However, Jesus Himself is the epitome in this respect because He suffered more injustice in His short life than anyone else - yet “when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him (God) that would judge righteously” (1 Peter 2, 23) - in other words: He did not try to get back at the ones who treated Him so badly but trusted His Father to set things right for Him. His faith is so strong and it is not easy to follow in His footsteps. Not easy, but also not impossible - with His help.
After the sermon was over, I felt that I could write the next chapter for it because I have some experience with this ....
As a child, I was bullied (if that is the correct word?) by a girl who lived in my street. I am sure she caused a lot of damage by making my life so difficult and it took me years and years to get over this damage and really become the person I was supposed to be.
Once, several years later, I was at a conference where a speaker encouraged us to decide to forgive the ones who had done us wrong - and I knew I was being called to forgive this girl who had hurt me so much. I did not want forgive her because I suddenly liked her or anything like that. I needed to decide to let go of my negative feelings toward her, to free myself. Even at this young age (I think I was about 16), I understood that the negativity and fear was basically keeping me hostage and I was the only one who could do something about it. Waiting for this girl to repent and come to me was not the answer. This may never happen. Hating her wasn’t either because the hate would consume me and I would be damaged even more. She would still be hurting me, even though she wasn’t really a part of my life at all anymore!
So I decided to do it. Not because I felt differently about the girl or the whole situation, but because I understood that it was the right thing to do, and that I would ultimately benefit from this decision. (Simply doing God’s will should always be beneficial in the end, right?)
It was an emotional moment but otherwise, nothing really happened on that day.
Over time I did notice that I simply did not think of all that had happened very much anymore, and the animosity against (and the fear of!) the girl slowly disappeared.
By this time I had left home to go to college and coming back to my parents’ home in that village and that street each weekend usually brought back the feelings of insecurity I had had when I still lived there. I even passed the same girl’s new home now when I walked from the train station to our house.
But this tension slowly went away as I continued to heal from what had happened, and when I finally learned that the girl who had hurt me so much was unable to have children, it genuinely saddened me. I truly felt and still feel so sorry for her. That is when I realized I had really let go of the issue, and I was healed.
Forgiving someone without them knowing about it may seem strange. To this day, this person still does not know anything about my struggle and my ultimate decision to forgive her.
Also, this forgiveness will not really take effect in her life until she asks for it. But if she would ever ask for it, I am ready to give her my forgiveness instantly because I have already dealt with the pain and the anger and the fear. I no longer have an urge to hurt her back.
Even if she never asks for it, my decision to forgive has affected my own life in a big way!
And I know this would not have happened if I had not decided years before to forgive her. By forgiving her and not seeking revenge, but committing myself to Him that would judge righteously, I opened the door to my own healing and I am grateful that the Lord taught me this lesson. I hope it will mean something to you as well.
Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any further questions!
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