This is part two of The Process of Forgiveness; please review the first part in order to get the full teaching! The fourth step in the process of forgiveness is to ask God to show you His purpose for the hurt.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” There are no wasted experiences in God! Even with this hurt, God is developing a quality in you or preparing you to use your experience to help others.

The fifth step in the process of forgiveness is to thank God that you have already forgiven the person every time you remember the event. Thank God that He is healing your emotions. Don’t allow yourself to dwell on the event; you need to control your thoughts. One of my favorite saying (Pastor Vicky) is “You need to think about what you’re thinking about!” This helps you to forget.

The sixth step in the process of forgiveness is to act towards the offender in a loving manner. This is the hardest part because your feelings at this point probably have not changed. The Bible tells us in Romans 12 that we are to return good for evil. This admonition is not telling you to put yourself in harm’s way! If the person who hurt you has potential to inflict more pain, please set boundaries or avoid contact.

After you go through these six steps, the final result is that God will change your feelings! This will take time. But one day, you will realize that you can talk about the event without being emotional. It will be like telling a story from history because it did happen to you but you are no longer affected by it. You are now fully healed and can fully live your life!