Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  

Is there anything or anyone that is just on your last nerve, or maybe it is something that was done a long time ago and it still just grates on your nerves and you can’t seem to let it go?  Every time it comes up you are about as irritated as you were when it happened, in fact just the thought of how you were treated makes your blood boil.  What is it?  Who is it?  You may be justified in your anger, but it’s holding you back.  Release yourself from it!

When you forgive you are releasing that situation and person to God and allowing Him to do what He sees fit and just.  His standard is much higher than yours so that should be a comfort.  There may be people in your life that you will have to give to God over and over on the same day.  You will have to become intentional in recognizing it and giving it to Him.  Now, that may sound silly if you don’t have someone in your life like that right now, but there are people who do.  When you get in the habit of giving them to God and not allowing anger to fester in your mind, the less and less what they do will annoy you.  It is when satan gets his toe in the door because he can use that thought or action to make you irritated that everything escalates.  If something no longer gets under your skin then he can’t use it anymore.  

Remember too, if that person is a key person in your life and a Christian satan’s goal is to cause division.  He is called the accuser of the brethren for a reason, he loves to cause problems by not just taking what you may do wrong to God, but he wants to use it to cause division in relationships.  He will pick, pick, pick until absolutely everything that person does irritates you.  Don’t allow him to do that.  Ask God to help you to forgive immediately and let it go so there’s nothing for satan to build on.  Remember the “scapegoat”  in the days when sacrifices had to be made by the High Priests?  Part of the sacrifice was to take a goat that represented their sins and send it out from the camp to carry away the sins they had committed away from them.  It was sent out to never come back to the camp.  Some Jewish stories say (stories passed down, not stated in the Bible, but interesting concept) that some of the priests would follow it out and shove it off a cliff to make sure it couldn’t come back.  Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  So, when you forgive, don’t allow your mind to dwell on it anymore.  Every time it comes to mind, pray and ask God to clear your heart and mind of it so you can move forward.  Shove it off that proverbial cliff as they say and don’t allow it back in.  It isn’t yours to handle anymore, it is God’s.

You aren’t having to forgive anyone God isn’t already dealing with.  He knows and He sees but in order for Him to fully work in them, you must back off, and give them to Him.  He wants to grow you into all He created you to be, but unforgiveness will hold you back.  The reason hurt turns into anger is due to not forgiving and hanging on to it.  You don’t want to become a bitter person unable to be used by God, do you?  Put those offenses in God’s hands and ask Him to heal your heart and mind.  God loves you and He calls you to forgive for your sake.  Part of learning to trust God is trusting Him to always do what is right even in situations where you were wronged.  He wants to grow that other person up to but you could be in the way if you are holding on to your unwillingness to forgive.  Give it all to Him and ask Him if there’s anyone or anything that you are harboring from the past as well.  Get rid of it all and focus on moving forward in your walk with God knowing His best is yet to come.