We say we forgive. We ask God to help us forgive. We think we’d done it – phew, we’ve forgiven. But why the niggle? Why, actually, the unforgiveness that rears its ugly head? What are we holding on to?

Oh, how I love this post from Penelope Swithinbank. Please, don’t miss it....

I wish I could tell you that I have learnt how to forgive. That over these past few years there have been lessons learnt from each of the hard places. I thought I had forgiven – the Christians in the church who sent the vitriolic hate mail; the woman driver of an out-of-control car that, as I watched, ran over my mother and ended her life; the man who bullied my husband so much that it made him ill; the Conservation officer who even now is causing us so much stress and headache with our house.

And all that is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s been a long tough ride for several years.

I know I need to forgive. To forgive and go on forgiving. Isn’t that what Jesus said we were to do?

A lack of forgiveness can be one of the main blockages in our lives – holding grudges, not letting go of our rights, allowing distances to grow between us and those who have offended us ........

From Amy Boucher Pye's Forgiveness Fridays series: you can click here to read the full article