You know, this year feels like I have gone from one trial to the next. It feels like one battle after another.

I have found myself, at times, battling bitterness. And at times, it seeps out onto innocent people.

We have to be careful and aware of the state of our hearts at all times.

I hadn’t realized that I was becoming bitter until someone said to me: All people aren’t bad.

I had to take pause and repent. I was moving in self-preservation. I was reacting. I was trying to protect myself.

As if God wasn’t doing His job. Crazy when you put it writing or say it aloud.

I hadn’t forgiven the breach that was lodged against me.

And the thing about one thing done against you, no matter how big or small, it seems to reopen wounds, recent and old. Wounds that you have forgiven and long since forgotten seem fresh.

Suddenly, you’re hurting all over again.

That was me. Hurting. One hurt piled on top of another.

Forgiveness, some people think is a choice. It’s actually a commandment.

If any of us want God to forgive us, we MUST forgive. We forgive the apologies that never come. We forgive the repeated offenses. We forgive the breaches that we don’t understand. The ones that we didn’t ask for or deserve. No matter how great, how difficult, we forgive.

And trust me, I KNOW that it’s easier said than done. On our own, it’s impossible. I know, because I’ve tried. But with God, all things are possible.