A Picture of Forgiveness

As I sit and do my morning devotion on A Picture of Forgiveness, I'm reminded of all the forgiveness that God as given me in my lifetime and am reminded of all that is to come.  We are human and we mess up or slip up and do wrong, to ourselves, to others and to God.  Not only do we need forgiveness from ourselves and others but we need it from God.  And it is one of those things that if you ask you receive   If you are saved by Gods grace and mercy and have Father, Son and Holy Spirit living in your heart, our duty is to forgive and not judge and to  never hold a grudge as that will just make you bitter and bitterness causes a hard heart.  Reading Gen 50:15-21, we see how after Jacob died, Joseph's brothers were worried about all the wrong they did to Joseph and if he would forgive them or harm them.  He surely shows us what forgiveness really is and how even our closest loved ones wrong us and we are called to forgive them in everything and not to ever hold a grudge from the wrong doing.  I, personally, have made a list of those that I have in my heart that I need to forgive for some kind of wrong doing they have done to me or situation in life that I couldn't control and has caused me to hold a grudge.  My prayer is to let the grudge go and give it all to God.  For God to take the bitterness out of my heart and replace it with love for these people and situations and take them as lessons to better myself for myself and my family.  The past is the past, we can not go back and change it, we can take it as lessons learn, better ourselves from the past experiences and let them grow our faith.  Lastly,  I am thankful for the forgiveness that God has shown me and thankful that Jesus died on the cross for me and my sins and that my family and I know and love the Lord.