Daily Devotion for March 4th

Thawed Resentment
Read Luke 5:17-20
If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
-Matthew 6:14 (NRSV)
AN injustice in my past had caused bitter resentment that sat like ice in my soul. I couldn't forget or forgive. Even though I was reminded daily in the Lord's Prayer that we need to forgive to receive forgiveness, I couldn't let go of the hurt. Yet I knew that long-held resentments can cause both emotional and physical illness.
When I talked about my feelings with a friend who had suffered severe childhood abuse, she passed on to me advice that had worked in her life. "In prayer, envision the person or persons in God's presence every day. Ask nothing good for the person. Ask nothing bad. Just place the person in the presence of the Lord every day."
She warned that it was no quick fix, and I found that after many, many months, the ice in me began to melt and gradually, very gradually, it disappeared. I was free and have stayed free ever since.
Carmen Tapiolas (Queensland, Australia)

Dear Lord, help us to turn over to you our hurts and bitterness, to pray for those who have harmed us, trusting you to work in their lives. As Jesus taught us, we pray, "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation."* Amen.

Thought for the Day!
The road to healing is sometimes long - but God walks with us every step of the way.