As usual, Joyce Meyer tells it like it is without holding back. It's one of the main reasons I like her. In her book DO YOURSELF A FAVOR.....FORGIVE, she lays it all on the table and bluntly tells us that if we're believers, true believers in and of Jesus Christ, we have an obligation to forgive those who have hurt us--regardless of how we may FEEL about it. It's all about making choices.
Interesting how Kay Warren says that CHOOS[ING] JOY is about making a CHOICE to live a life full of joy and Joyce Meyer says that forgiving is all about making a CHOICE to do so. God gives us free will. We can choose to hold on to our pain and hurt, or we can choose to forgive, doing ourselves a huge favor in the process.
I do completely agree. Of course, it isn't easy to forgive when I have been hurt to the depths of my soul, but I'm certainly not doing myself a favor by hanging on to the hurt. I'm getting more and more frustrated and angry, causing my friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, etc. around me to want to avoid me rather than being near me. Remember: hurt people, hurt people. It's true. We don't just hurt the person who hurt us by holding on to our anger and hurt feelings, we hurt everyone around us, especially ourselves. And don't forget the heartache it causes our Lord and Savior when we choose to life in unforgiveness rather than a life full of the JOY and PEACE He so wants us to have when we choose to live in and through Him.
I find it interesting that Joyce doesn't say anything in her book that I don't already know. I mean, I have studied forgiveness before. But the truth is, even the best of us--yes, me too--hold on to our hurt and anger, even when we KNOW and feel the Holy Spirit nudging us to forgive. So whether I already know the information or not, I need to hear it---again and again and again and again....until I get to the place where I have forgiven anyone who has hurt me, especially the one closest to me who has hurt me the most--and also especially myself, my body, for the way it has betrayed me over the years.
I think that last one, more than anything or anyone else in my life, has been the hardest to forgive. My body failed me when I needed it the most and it continues to do so--in spite of whether I'm eating right and exercising or not. (I won't go in to detail here....I've written about all the things that have happened to me in previous posts, so if you're interested enough to find out, you'll have to go backwards. I especially discussed them in my blog about Kary Warren's CHOOSE JOY.)
Needless to say, whether we know the information Joyce Meyer talks about in her book DO YOURSELF A FAVOR....FORGIVE or not, until we can and do forgive every one who hurts us every time we're hurt, we need to keep reading it and re-knowing it.
Only one or two quick negatives: 1. she does, essentially, say the same thing over and over about forgiveness. It's a lot of repetition, finding a new way to say the same information. 2. She misuses subject/pronoun agreement with singular indefinite pronouns throughout the book. It's very frustrating. It doesn't take away from the effectiveness of the book as a whole, but I couldn't help notice them, and yes, marking them. 3. She has quite a few split infinitives, too. Both of these grammar issues are becoming more and more prominent in literature these days. I'm noticing that almost every modern-day book I read, these two grammar problems are fairly rampant. As far as I know, though, they're still on the books as far as grammar rules go, and, even if they weren't, they still bug the tar out of me....
I know. I know. I should focus more on the content--WHAT--Joyce Meyer says about forgiveness and then DO what she says, but I am an English teacher. Asking me not to notice grammar problems is like asking me to cut off my right arm.......
