There are three we have to forgive - the first is others - those who have hurt us. Take the people who come to your mind and stand with them beneath the cross and imagine the blood of Jesus falling down upon you both. He died for you both and through His Blood you will be healed. Ask God to forgive them. Ask God to help you to forgive them. Thank God for the healing He is about to bring to you - to your broken heart and wounded spirit. And then ask God to heal your heart and spirit. It is the people we love the most who hurt us the most. If a person in Russia called you a name - it wouldn't matter, but if it is your spouse, or your child, then we are hurt. Ask God to heal that hurt.
The next to forgive is ourselves. We have all sinned - Jesus said that even the righteous man sins 7 times a day. Some know their sin, have repented, and have changed their lives - but they cannot accept the fact that they have been forgiven. Jesus has already forgiven you - but you have to accept this forgiveness. His love for you is overwhelming - but you have to accept this love. It is easy to say "Jesus loves everyone", but it is harder to say, "Jesus loves me." "Jesus died for me."
The next to forgive is ourselves. We have all sinned - Jesus said that even the righteous man sins 7 times a day. Some know their sin, have repented, and have changed their lives - but they cannot accept the fact that they have been forgiven. Jesus has already forgiven you - but you have to accept this forgiveness. His love for you is overwhelming - but you have to accept this love. It is easy to say "Jesus loves everyone", but it is harder to say, "Jesus loves me." "Jesus died for me."
Even people who go to Confession have a hard time accepting the fact that Jesus has forgiven them. At a Charismatic Conference many years ago, I sat next to an elderly nun and she confided to me that she had a hard time forgiving herself for what she had done as a teenager. I wasn't speaking to someone who knew nothing of their religion - I answered, "Then, Sister, you have not accepted Jesus' death for you."
The third to forgive is God. God does no evil. Evil is the absence of God who is all goodness. But we blame God for unanswered prayers - or rather answered in ways that we didn't like. As a child we may pray for our puppy that is hurt and dying, and the dog dies anyway. Or a parent prays for the healing of their child, and their child still dies. Or some other hurt that we imagine that God has done to us - we have to forgive God.
Ask God to show you the area that you need to work
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