Forgiveness Ensures Freedom

"See to it that no one misses the grace of God
and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." - Hebrews
12:15

In business and life the opportunity to harbor bitterness for a wrong
suffered is great. We are given plenty of opportunities to grow bitter from
relationships that bring hurt and pain. The writer of the Hebrews passage above
admonishes us not to miss the grace of God so that we won't take up bitterness
as a response to life's pain. He cautions us against this because he knows that
a bitter root grows and grows until it eventually defiles many others through a
wake of bitterness. If bitterness is allowed to take root, we become imprisoned
to it. God's grace will no longer have as great an effect in our lives. We
become ineffective, insensitive, and spiritually dead. We can even become
physically ill from it. God does not live in bitterness. He lives in grace. He
has provided grace for every person to walk in.

One day I was challenged to
deal with an individual who hurt me terribly. I was faced with a decision. Would
I choose bitterness, or would I choose grace? Oh, how my natural tendency was to
choose bitterness. But God provided the courage to choose grace. With that grace
came freedom - a freedom to love and even accept the person who was the source
of such pain.

This is the real place where Christ's power is most revealed.
We cannot live without His supernatural grace. Are you in need of grace today?
It is there for the receiving. It will take courage to accept it and walk in it.
This will be your step to freedom