Elize About Faith

“Then Peter came to him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’”Matthew 18:21–22 NLT

As a follower of Jesus, I have been going through what I now understand to be wilderness seasons. These seasons have brought deep refinement and growth in my relationship with God, and as my relationship with Him has grown, so has my understanding of what it means to have healthy relationships with others.

During a recent season, I asked the Lord to reveal the areas of my life that do not honour Him—the things within me that needed to change. He revealed several things, but one that stood out particularly strongly was forgiveness.

Throughout that season, as I read Scripture, attended church, listened to podcasts and spent time in prayer, the message seemed to come up again and again: I need to forgive.

At first, I didn’t think I had unforgiveness in my heart. I didn’t feel angry or resentful towards anyone. I thought I had already let the past go.

But then I asked the Lord to reveal to me whom I needed to forgive.

Over the course of the following weeks, things began coming to the surface, some dating as far back as my childhood. Memories of people who had hurt me, betrayed me, insulted me or caused me pain came back to mind. I realised there were things I had never truly dealt with. I had simply tucked them away somewhere in my mind where I would rather not think about them.

And the Lord wasn’t only showing me where I had been hurt. He was also showing me where I had hurt others.

I had to forgive those who had hurt me, but I also had to repent for the ways I had responded to those situations. I had to ask God to forgive me for my own actions, attitudes and mistakes.

And then came something I hadn’t expected: I had to learn to forgive myself.

This has genuinely felt like a process of cleansing.

I thought I had let go of the past. But God showed me that sometimes we can believe we have moved on simply because we have stopped talking about something. We can bury painful experiences so deeply that we no longer consciously think about them, while still carrying the effects of them.

Forgiveness has been part of allowing God to bring those hidden places into the light, not to condemn me, but to heal me.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean that what happened was acceptable. It doesn’t mean forgetting, denying the pain or allowing someone who has hurt us to continue hurting us.

It means surrendering the offence to God.

It means choosing not to remain bound to what happened.

It means recognising that, just as I need forgiveness for the things I have done, I am also called to extend that same forgiveness to others.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”

Colossians 3:13 NLT

The more I understand the depth of God’s forgiveness towards me, the more I realise that forgiveness isn’t simply something God asks me to do for other people.

It is part of becoming more like Christ.

And perhaps that is why the Lord brought this lesson to me during a wilderness season. He wasn’t simply asking me to look back at the people who had hurt me. He was inviting me to look within, surrender the things I had carried for years, repent where I needed to repent, and allow Him to cleanse what I had never fully dealt with.

God takes us into the wilderness not to leave us there, but to remove the things we cannot take with us into the next season.

For me, forgiveness has been one of those things.

And I am learning that when we place our past, our pain, our mistakes and our unforgiveness into the hands of God, He is faithful to do what only He can do—bring freedom, healing and transformation.

Prayer 🙏🏽 

Lord, help me to forgive as You have forgiven me. Reveal anything I am still carrying that You are asking me to release. Give me the humility to repent where I have caused hurt, the grace to forgive those who have hurt me, and the courage to surrender my past completely into Your hands. Amen.