the joy of forgiving

The joy of forgiving is one that not many people are able to experience in this society.  It is hard, even for those of us who are called to forgive anyway.  But, think about the joy of forgiving for a second.  The idea that you can let something go and NEVER worry about it again.  Now that sounds like something that I would like to sign up for.  Honestly, forgiving people is never easy but when it is done and done right, then our hearts and souls AND the rest of the world will be much better off.  Notice I added "and done right" part.  Many people can say, "Oh yeah, I forgave them a long time ago.  It's all under the rug."  And then when those two people get into a fight and that person brings up the very thing that they supposedly forgave the other one for, then it brings on a whole new light.  For real.  This exact fight has actually happened to me before.  I thought I was doing "the Christian thing" and forgiving a friend of mine, when I was actually suppressing my emotions and then we fought and that very thing was brought up again, when it was supposed to have been forgotten about.  However, I was doing "the Christian thing" instead of allowing God to handle that part of my life and help me forgive someone.  If I allowed Him into the center of my life in that area (or all the time, let's face it) then I would have not been holding a grudge instead of allowing the joy of forgiveness to enter my body.  Once, I allowed God into my life in that area, I have never felt better when I have conversed with this friend.  I forgave them AND I actually am not suppressing anything.  God showed me the joy in being a forgiving person than holding a grudge that only made matters worse.  Imagine your life full of joy even in the midst of so much pain.  Think about those people who are in need of the joy that you possess and then think about how you can give that to them.  The world will be a much better place if we just allowed God to give us the joy of forgiveness.