My ability to love is more powerful than the pain of an offense.
Love is the most powerful feeling that I could ever experience. Love is stronger than hate. Love is stronger than pain.
I love those who have hurt me. Loving others doesn’t mean that I approve of their offense. Rather, it’s simply my way of preventing bitterness from taking root in me and destroying me from the inside out. An offense hurts, but bitterness destroys, that is why I choose to love and forgive.
When another person hurts me, love reveals to me the hurt inside that person. People who hurt others are often hurting even more themselves. Through love, I can see that person differently and, rather than just forgive them, I can actually begin to feel love for them.
When someone hurts me, love causes me to pray for them. When I pray for another, my feelings toward them transform to feelings of care and concern.
To be able to love someone past the hurt, I first evaluate their intentions. People are not perfect and sometimes do things they don’t mean to do. In those instances, I am gracious and humble enough to accept people just the way they are.
There are some people who are hurtful on purpose. Those people are the hardest to love, but they are the ones that need the most love. Instead of stepping down to their level and engaging in immature behavior, I choose to love them anyway.
Today, I choose to love others regardless of how they treat me. My heart is free from the chains of bitterness that try to trap me. Offenses have no authority over my heart.
Self-Reflection Questions:
1. Why do people hurt others?
2. Why is it important to choose love over hate?
3. How can I overlook an offense?
