August 3, 2021
Time for a Makeover
Mary Southerland Today's Truth
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13, NIV). Friend to Friend
I promised myself that I would never buy a house that was a "fixer-upper." I wanted everything fixed before I moved in. But there we were - buying a town house that needed a makeover. Why didn't someone stop me? No one did, so the sale was made, and we went to work. Actually, my son and husband went to work while I went crazy. I had no idea how horrible the process of remodeling could be. Layer after layer of dirt, grime, stains and ugliness was stripped away. We basically gutted the whole place and rebuilt it – while living in it. I was not happy! I often wondered why God didn't just demolish the old me and build a new one. Then He did just that – through a two-year battle with clinical depression. While sitting at the bottom of that dark and slimy pit, the Father lovingly stripped away old fears and insecurities. From the walls of my heart, He tore the rotten attitudes, undisciplined thoughts and unholy desires that had walked me to the edge of my pit - then pushed me in. He replaced rusty old dreams with new ones and basically gutted my life to build a new one, a better one, and a stronger one. Part of that new life was forgiveness. God taught me how to forgive myself so I could then forgive others. Because forgiveness is so important, it only stands to reason there are roadblocks that can hinder our willingness to forgive. We must make the commitment to identify and remove each one. Pride Pride cries, "Look at what they have done to me. Don't they realize who I am?" To receive or give forgiveness requires humility. Low self-esteem Some of us have built an entire identity around a hurt. The attention we gain from the wrong we have suffered defines who we are. We cherish the pain and refuse to relinquish it for the sake of forgiveness. Blindness We may be blind to the fact that we have not forgiven a hurt. By going through the motions of forgiveness, all we have done is dig a hole and bury the pain. As long as hurt is buried alive, it will keep resurrecting itself, but when the hurt is dealt with and forgiveness is given, the pain is buried dead – and it stays dead. | 
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