Tag: forgive

Joyful Life

How to Defeat the Devil

Michele Kearns

(This post was inspired by an article about people not believing others should be forgiven.)

A gentle reminder that forgiveness is never about the other person but always about you. When you forgive others the anger and hurt in your hard heart is released, making you feel better.

Every time you refuse to forgive your fellow man, the devil wins a small battle.

So follow this verse and defeat the devil.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

Do you realize that by not forgiving others you are against the meaning of Easter? When Jesus hung on the cross, it was not for the forgiveness of his sins but the forgiveness of your sins.

If your heart is so hard that you will not forgive others, then how can God forgive you?

Imagine how much joy you will experience defeating the devil by forgiving others.

Bio: Michele Kearns is the founder and HUG© (Hope Unites Globally) Award-Winner of JoyReturns. She shares her widowhood adventures hoping to inspire widows to move through grief and rebuild their lives. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, she’s currently using those skills as a virtual logistics contact center representative for a Fortune 100 company. She’s also managed call center teams, co-facilitated a grief support group, and helped small businesses with various writing assignments. Michele is a bookworm, and a lover of history, music, chocolate, red roses, and golden retrievers. She is also the amateur photographer behind the blog OgleOhio.com.

52 Bible Verses, Faith, Joy, Uncategorized

52 Bible Verses for a Joy Filled Year – Week 51

Michele Kearns

Welcome to the next to the last week of 52 Bible Verses for a Joy-Filled Year. This weeks verse pertains to forgiveness, something a lot of us grapple with doing.

Forgiveness is not about the other person, forgiveness is about you. It is about removing ill will from your heart so there is room for God’s blessings. You can not receive His blessings with hatred, evil, and anger clogging up the arteries of your heart.

So forgiveothers…then go live a blessed life.

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And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:25

ESV 

 

 

christmas signatureBio: Michele Kearns is the founder and HUG© (Hope Unites Globally) Award-Winner of JoyReturns. She shares her widowhood adventures hoping to encourage widows to move through grief and rebuild their lives. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, she’s used those skills while working as a call center team leader, facilitating a grief support group and helping small businesses with various writing and administrative assignments. Michele is a bookworm, lover of golden retrievers and an amateur photographer.

Weekend Wisdom

Weekend Wisdom: Forgive One Another + A Homework Assignment

Michele Kearns

 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Luke 23:34

The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.  

Mahatma Gandhi

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.  

Lewis B. Smedes

“Forgiveness – The Power to Change the Past,”

Christianity Today, 7 January 1983

  

Forgiveness is a funny thing.  It warms the heart and cools the sting.  

William Arthur Ward

Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.  

Oscar Wilde

Forgiving is love’s toughest work, and love’s biggest risk.  If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, it can make you a doormat or an insufferable manipulator.  Forgiving seems almost unnatural.  Our sense of fairness tells us people should pay for the wrong they do.  But forgiving is love’s power to break nature’s rule.

Lewis B. Smedes

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mark 11:25

Homework

Now here is your homework assignment:

Forgive the groundhog if he saw his shadow.         😉